# LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. J 

I ; # 

! UNITED STATES OP AMERICA, f 



1 



THE YOUNG RULER 



WHO HAD GREAT POSSESSIONS. 



AND OTHER DISCOURSES, 

CHIEFLY PRACTICAL. 



PREACHED IN A SUBURBAN PARISH, 




SOMETIME RECTOR. 



NEW YORK: 
ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH & COMPANY, 

770 Broadway, cor. 9TH Street. 




EDWARD 0. JENKINS, 
PRINTER AXD STEREO TTFER, 
NO. 20 N. WILLIAM STREET, N, Y. 



CONTENTS. 

PAGE 



L 

The Young Ruler who was Very Rich 7 

II. 

Christmas Joys and Obligations 20 

in. 

On Submission to the Will of God 31 

IV. 

Grounds of Certainty of our Faith in Christ 45 

V. 

The Obligation of Conscience 58 

VI. 

Why do some Believe, and others not? 71 

VII, 

Herod the Tetrarch and John Baptist 83 

VIII. 

Dives and Lazarus , 97 

IX. 

On acting wisely with our Wealth 112 



(3) 



4 CONTEXTS. 

PAGE 

X. 

Sadducean Infidelity confuted * 124 

XI. 

Go Forward " 137 

XII. 

" What think ye of Christ ?" 150 

XIII. 

Sovereignty of God in Acts of Grace 165 

XIV. 

The Wheat and the Tares 177 

XV. 

Need of Open Confession of Christ 189 

XVI. 

Energy of the Holy Ghost in the Gospel 201 

XVII. 

The Voice of One Crying in the Wilderness 215 

XVIII. 

Opportunities of Grace must be used 227 

XIX. 

Holding Fast the Truth of God 236 



PREFACE. 



A WORD or two will suffice to explain the ap- 
pearance of the present volume. 

Several personal friends and former parishion- 
ers were desirous of having in some permanent 
form Discourses to which they had listened in 
the regular course of parochial ministrations. 
Their kind and generous wishes were not to be 
gainsaid, and the writer takes great pleasure in 
being able to gratify, in this wise, time -honored 
friends of the household of faith. 

The Discourses, not having been written for 
publication, do not make any claim to be other 
than such as the author was in the habit of 
preaching in the parish church of which lie 

(5) 



6 PREFACE. 

was Rector. Doubtless, they might have been 
re -written to advantage, and improved in va- 
rious respects ; but, in the author's view, that 
was hardly fair under the circumstances, and 
so they are printed as they were preached. 

In submitting a volume of this kind to the 
public, it is hoped that it may be found worth 
reading by church -going people. Possibly also, 
it may do some good among those who profess 
and call themselves Christians, and who find edi- 
fication and comfort, in these tempestuous days, 
in reading as well as hearing plain, practical 
expositions of God's Word, in their application 
to the Christian life and its manifold privileges 
and duties. 

J. A. s. 

New York, Dec. 12th, 1871. 



I. 



THE YOUNG RULER WHO WAS 



" And when he (the Young Ruler) heard this, he was very 
sorrowful : for he was very rich." 

" When the young man heard that saying, he went away very 
sorrowful ; for he had great possessions." 



HE story of the Young Ruler who came 



X running up to our Lord, on a certain occa- 
sion, and reverently kneeling down, said to Him, 
" Good Master, what shall I do that I may in- 
herit eternal life ?" is told by St. Mark in sub- 
stantially the same words as those used by St. 
Luke and St. Matthew. It is a story respecting 
matters which made a very deep impression upon 
the minds and hearts of the disciples of Christ, 
then and there present ; and the teaching of the 



VERY RICH. 



St. Luke xviii. 23 ; St. Matt. xix. 22. 




(7) 



8 



THE YOUNG RULER. 



Master was so entirely different from anything 
they had ever heard of, or even imagined, that, 
as St. Mark tells us, " they were astonished out 
of measure, saying among themselves, who then 
can be saved ? " * We, too, my brethren, I am 
sure, may read and study this portion of the Gos- 
pel history to our profit and spiritual enlighten- 
ment. I shall, therefore, very earnestly beg you 
to look into it now, and also to allow me to set 
before you, as far as I can, some things w^hich, 
by God's blessing, will help toward the clearer 
understanding of the meaning and force of this 
interesting narrative. 

The Young Ruler, here spoken of, had certainly 
enjoyed excellent advantages in life. He had 
been trained carefully to observe the law and 
the precepts of religion. He had, though still 
young in years, become even a ruler in a syna- 
gogue among the Jews ; and, altogether, he felt 
himself deserving of honor and praise for his 
good deeds, his liberal charities, and his freedom 
from the prevailing sins of the day. In his de- 
portment and conduct, he was truly and sincerely 
respectful to our Lord. There was none of the 

* St. Mark x. 26. 



THE YOUNG RULER. g 

hypocrisy and lying deceit of that class of per- 
sons, who often attempted to entangle the Sa- 
viour by "feigning themselves to be just men."'* 
He asked the question in good faith, nothing 
doubting as to the answer which the Great and 
Good Teacher would give ; and though his ques- 
tion shows clearly enough to us, who have so 
many superior advantages of light and guidance, 
how greatly he was self-deceived, yet there can 
be no doubt that he was in earnest in asking, and 
in earnest in the hope and expectation of receiv- 
ing commendation at the Master's hands. He 
speaks of himself, in reply to the searching in- 
quiries of our Saviour, with no undue elevation, 
no special conceit, no offensive self-importance ; 
and the compassionate Redeemer treated him 
accordingly. While he was compelled to look 
into his own heart, in a way wholly new to him, 
and to learn some things about which he had 
never thought seriously before, yet the Master 
dealt tenderly with him withal. He led him, 
with much gentleness and kindness, to see how 
little he really understood what his inquiry led 
to ; to learn how far short he fell of the standard 

* St. Luke xx. 20. 

I* 



IO THE YOUXG RULER. 

which the Lord demands of His disciples ; and to 
realize how entirely unable he was to endure the 
test which was proposed to him, if he would be 
a true follower and servant of Jesus Christ. 

Now, brethren, in regard to the coming of the 
Youthful Ruler to the Master, that was certainly 
right ; that was clearly a step in the right direc- 
tion. It is also evident that he came for a good 
and laudable purpose, not for vain show or fool- 
ishness ; and he asked a question on a subject of 
the very deepest possible moment : " What shall 
I do that I may inherit eternal life ?"* The ques- 
tion was a very proper one to ask, and the Bless- 
ed Saviour was the only One in the world who 
could rightly answer it for this young and zeal- 
ous inquirer. Eternal life was the subject 
asked about, a subject in which every child of 
man has his own special interest ; and though 
this Youthful Ruler had only vague, confused no- 
tions on the subject, and very inaccurate ideas 
as to how eternal life was to be obtained; — 
though he thought that he could gain it by his 
good deeds, and could claim it as an inheritance 
belonging to him by right, because he had kept 

* St. Mark x. 17. 



THE YOUXG RULER. IX 

the law and the commandments from his child- 
hood ; — yet, he did well to ask the question : and 
the Saviour, who knew his heart, even as He sees 
into the hearts of each and every one of us, was 
so far from being displeased, that, as St. Mark 
tells us, in singularly striking words, He " loved 
him," — and felt Himself warmly and affectionately 
interested in one who displayed so many quali- 
ties worthy the Master's regard. 

Up to this point it seemed not unnatural for 
one in his position to expect such an answer to 
his question as he was sure his upright life and 
conduct entitled him to. When he was able to 
say, as he no doubt did sincerely, however mis- 
takenly, that he had kept all the commandments 
of God, from his very youth to that day, he 
thought that now the Great Teacher could ask 
nothing harder or more difficult, and that his 
claim to inherit eternal life was based upon a sure 
and fixed foundation. But, he did not know him- 
self as he really was in the sight of God. " One 
thing (further and especially) thou lackest,""* said 
the Saviour to him, and this is the touchstone 
that will try you most effectually : " go thy way, 

* St. Mark x. 21. 



12 



THE YOUNG RULER. 



sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, 
and thou shalt have treasure in heaven ; and 
come, take up the cross, and follow Me." 

Marvellous words indeed were these to him 
who then heard them, and they pierced to the 
very inmost recesses of his heart. Vain and 
worthless now all his plea of correctness of life, 
and strictness in keeping the Commandments. 
He could not for a moment blind his eyes to the 
fact, that the Master's test was a test he could 
not bear ; and as the light broke in suddenly 
upon his soul, and he became aware of what 
was before him, — what sacrifices unthought of, 
what humiliation unexpected, what lowering of 
self and self-importance unimagined, — he was 
startled at the prospect ; he was astonished and 
amazed at the far-reaching demand upon him ; 
and he drew back in pain and grief, at finding 
himself unable to endure this test of his sincer- 
ity and truthfulness in seeking after eternal life. 
For, as in our text, " when the Young (Ruler) 
heard that saying, he went away very sorrow- 
ful ; for he had great possessions/' Yes, breth- 
ren, in sadness and heaviness of heart he went 
away from the presence of the Lord, and the 



THE YOUXG RULER. jj 

Gospel record makes no further mention of him. 
Whether he afterwards repented and turned to 
the true and living way, as the Saviour pointed 
it out to him ; or, whether he v/as unable to give 
up his wealth and sacrifice all things for Christ, 
we know not ; but there is little room to hope 
that he escaped the lot of those who " are choked 
with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, 
and bring no fruit to perfection."* 

The use which our Blessed Master makes 
of this incident, in warning the disciples against 
trusting in riches, and in pointing out the ex- 
ceeding difficulty which they who will be rich 
have to avoid the snares and temptations of 
wealth, I do not propose at this time to enlarge 
upon. The warning voice of God's Holy Word 
• is heard perpetually on this subject, and that man 
is daring indeed who neglects or refuses to listen 
to it. All that I now wish to do is, simply to 
urge upon you, my brethren, to give good heed, 
each in his own case, to what the test is which 
the Master applies to him, in order to prove his 
sincerity and love of truth in professing to be a 
soldier and servant of Jesus Christ. 

* St. Luke viii. 14. 



I 4 THE YOUNG RULER. 

Every Christian knows, by his own experience, 
that God deals with him as with one who is to 
be disciplined and trained, in a great variety of 
ways, to endure hardness, and to suffer, in the 
Lord's own way, and for the Lord's sake. We 
may reverently adore His wisdom, no less than 
His mercy and compassion, in thus dealing w 7 ith 
us ; for, it is by trials that we learn what we 
are indeed ; it is by endurance that we become 
strong ; it is through the fire that the pure gold 
comes out separated from the base alloy. This 
discipline, though having always the same great 
end in view, is different in different cases. As it 
did not please Him who made us to make us all 
alike ; as He has seen fit to place one here, and 
another there ; to endow one with mental power 
and energy, and to take it away or withhold it 
from another ; to make one man rich, w T ith his 
thousand advantages and opportunities, and an- 
other man poor, with his manifold trials and 
temptations ; to give one health and strength 
and cheerfulness of temperament, and to send 
another into the world to struggle with weak- 
ness of body, want of energy, irritability of 
temper, and all such like; — as it has pleased 



THE YOUNG RULER. x j 

our Heavenly Father thus to do with us, so He 
has appointed each one to undergo the trial 
which is really a trial to him. He has appointed 
the trial, and it is such a trial as He who know- 
eth all hearts knows to be the needful and suffi- 
cient one for us. His purpose, too, is to test us 
thoroughly in those things in which we are, or 
are likely to be, lacking ; to test us, or try us, in 
those things which we need for our growth in 
grace and in deeper and truer knowledge of our 
own selves.- 

God knoweth, brethren, full well, and better 
than we, that it is no hardship for any of us to 
give up what we do not particularly care about ; 
no trial to make sacrifice of things which are of 
little or no consequence to us ; and so He requires 
of us something very different, something which 
is a trial to us in reality, and not in appearance 
only. The Master does not expect of a liberal- 
minded man that he shall be simply generous, 
and kind-hearted, and full of zeal for the public 
good ; for to be thus, and do thus, is only the 
natural impulse of his heart. The Master whom 
we serve looks for something more from the cul- 
tivated and refined, than merely to abstain from 



i6 



THE YOUNG RULER. 



the lower, meaner forms of pleasure ; for they 
who have enjoyed such advantages, and have 
been trained in the paths of virtue and under 
the restraints of a Christian home, instinctively, 
as it were, turn away from sensuous follies and 
impurities. He, the Lord of all, apportions to 
the rich man something else than to avoid the 
vices of poverty. He gives to the poor man a 
trial other than that of not falling into luxury, 
vanity, or pride, which riches are urging men 
into continually. The Master, I repeat it, know- 
ing what we are, appoints us our trial, according 
to our particular position and necessities ; and if 
He gives me a trial which would be no trial to 
you, or lays upon you trials which it would not 
be at all hard for me to bear, this is only what 
we must expect at His hands ; it is only what 
you, and I, and all of us need, to make us meet 
to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints 
in light. 

This, as you observe, was the course which our 
Lord followed with the rich Young Ruler in the 
Gospel. Any other trial but the one proposed, 
would not have met his case. He had, as he 
thought, kept all the Commandments, in their 



THE YOUNG RULER. Y j 

spirit and fullness, as well as in the letter, and 
his inquiry, " what lack I yet?"" showed that he 
did not suppose there was any thing further for 
him to do in this respect ; but when the Saviour 
said to him, " thou shalt love thy neighbor as 
thyself,"f and then set before him, as the test of 
his really loving his neighbor as himself, that he 
should go and sell his property, and distribute it 
among the poor, the young man, who " was very 
rich," drew back ; the test was too severe ; this 
touched him to the quick ; and in grief and as- 
tonishment he left the presence of the Master. 

So, brethren, your trial is to give up for Christ 
something which really costs you self-sacrifice to 
give it up. Your trial, and my trial, is to bear 
with those things which God has given us to 
bear ; no matter what He requires of us ; no 
matter what the trial He lays on us ; no matter 
how hard the trial ; it is for our discipline ; it is 
for our spiritual growth and advancement ; and 
as the way onward and upward is by the path 
which the Saviour Himself chose to walk in, — 
the path of humiliation and suffering for oth- 
ers, — so in our progress heavenward towards 

* St. Matthew xix. 20. f St. Matthew xix. 21. 



i8 



THE YOUNG RULER. 



our Father's house, we must even count it 
joy to meet with tribulation and trial : " for 
whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth, and 
scourgeth every -son whom He receiveth."* 

Let us, then, see to it. The Master's call is 
imperative. Let it not be that any young man 
here present can suffer His loving words to be 
unheeded. Let the rich give up of his riches, for 
the Master's sake, and lay it on the altar of Christ. 
Let him not spend his thousands on himself, or 
his family, or his tastes and enjoyments, and at 
the same time see the cause of truth and right- 
eousness languishing and pining for want of sup- 
port. Let him keep ever before his eyes the 
startling warning which our Lord uttered, when 
the Young Ruler went away from His presence, 
greatly sorrowing because of his large posses- 
sions, — " how hardly shall they that have riches 
enter into the kingdom of God !"f So, too, in 
the case of each and all of us. Give that which 
is worth something. Give the best that you have 
to give. Care for the sick and needy ; succor 
the afflicted ; support and comfort the weak and 
weary-hearted. Be not afraid or unwilling to 

* Hebrews xii. 6. f St. Mark x. 23. 



THE YOUXG RULER. l g 

make sacrifices of time, of personal ease, of in- 
dividual enjoyment, of the natural inclination to 
pass by the work which is plainly before us to 
do for Christ and the Church ; and be always 
ready, if the Lord so require, to " forsake houses, 
or brethren, or wife, or children, or lands, for 
His Name's sake/' being well assured that if we 
do what He demands, in penitence, faith and 
charity, we " shall receive an hundred fold, and 
shall inherit everlasting life."" 

Thus, in the way of humility and self-sacrifice, 
shall we obtain the blessedness, beyond all power 
of language to describe, of drawing nearer and 
nearer to Him who is our Peace, our sure and 
perfect Consolation in all the trials of this proba- 
tionary state. " Beloved," says St. Peter, " think 
it not strange, concerning the fiery trial which is 
to try you, as though some strange thing hap- 
pened unto you ; but rejoice, inasmuch as ye 
are partakers of Christ's sufferings ; that when 
His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also 
with, exceeding joy."f 

* St. Matthew xix. 29. f 1 St. Peter iv. 12, 13. 



II. 



CHRISTMAS JOYS AND OBLIGATIONS. 



" Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall 
"be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of 
David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord." 



OW holy and beautiful is this house of 



JL -L the Lord ! how significant are its em- 
blems of joy and gratulation ! how strikingly sug- 
gestive are its sacred services ! The song of 
angels mingles in mysterious harmony with the 
voices of men, and the chant of praise rises even 
to the very Throne of the Eternal, — " Glory to 
God in the highest, and on earth peace, good 
will toward men."* Joy and gladness fill our 
hearts ; the strains of melody are poured forth 
in our midst ; the sweet voices of our little ones 



St. Luke ii. 10, 1 1. 




* St. Luke ii. 14. 



(20) 



CHRISTMA S JO YS AXD ODLIGA TIONS. 2 1 

give the glad wishes of this happy season ; and 
parents and children, brothers and sisters, friends 
and relatives, rejoice with mutual joy, and each 
offers to the other the fervent wishes of pros- 
perity and peace. 

But why is this ? What mean we by these 
tokens of joyful hearts ? Why do we, in this 
stern wintry season, decorate the house of God 
in this wise ? and why is it that the glory of 
Lebanon has come to this place, the fir-tree, the 
pine-tree, and the box together, to beautify the 
place of the Lord's sanctuary, and to make the 
place of His feet glorious ? * Surely, it is no 
common blessing which thus stirs to their very 
depths, the hearts of a whole people, and causes 
multitudes in every Christian land to break forth 
into songs of praise and grateful adoration. 
Surely, we who are this day assembled in this 
house of prayer, will gladly give answer to those 
who ask a reason of the hope that is in us, in 
the words of the angelic messenger, — " Unto us 
is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, 
who is Christ the Lord." 

It needs not that I should repeat in your ears 

* Isaiah lx. 13. 



2 2 CHRIS TMA S JOYS A ND OBLIGA TIONS. 

the story which has just been read to you out 
of St. Luke's Gospel. That touching story, so 
majestic in its simplicity, and so full of pathos 
and persuasive earnestness to every ingenuous 
spirit, is as familiar to you as your every-day life. 
Every little child among us knows of the shep- 
herds who watched their flocks by night on 
Bethlehem's plains, and to whom the angel of 
the Lord came, all unexpectedly, in heavenly 
glory, and proclaimed to them the good tidings 
of great joy which was to be for all people and 
for all ages of the world. It needs not that I 
tell you of these things, here and now. It is 
rather my duty, as well as my privilege, to ask 
you to turn your thoughts, for a while, to a few 
other points, which, though not perhaps immedi- 
ately apparent to every observer, are neverthe- 
less quite in harmony with the day and with the 
sacred festival which we now celebrate. 

The Church, it will be observed, in the ar- 
rangement of her services for the Feast of the 
Nativity, has associated together, in the closest 
connection, three of the fundamental doctrines 
of the Gospel, — I mean, the Incarnation, the Di- 
vinity, and the Atonement of our Lord and Sav- 



CHRISTMAS JOYS AND OBLIGATIONS. 23 

iour. The simple and touching narrative of St. 
Luke sets forth fully the manhood of our Re- 
deemer ; that He was indeed bone of our bone 
and flesh of our flesh ; that He took upon Him 
our nature, and was born of a pure virgin, in 
order that He might be our elder Brother, and 
the Captain of our salvation. The mysteriously 
grand and wonderful language of St. John, in 
the opening words of his Gospel, declares, in 
the most exact manner, the essential and eter- 
nal Deity of the Son of God, and how it was 
that the " Godhead and Manhood were joined 
together in one Person, never to be divided, 
whereof is one Christ, very God and very Man." * 
St. Paul, too, in that profoundly learned and argu- 
mentative Epistle of his to the Hebrews, asserts 
the Divinity of Christ in terms of most positive 
import ; for He is the brightness of the Father's 
glory, and the express image of His person, and 
upholds all things by the word of His power ; 
yea, " Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, to-day, 
and forever." f And having thus, in the Psalms 
for the day, in the Lessons, and in the Epistle 
and Gospel, taught us that our Lord is both God 

* Article II. of the Thirty-nine Articles. \ Heb. xiii. 8. 



24 CHRISTMAS JOYS AND OBLIGATIONS. 

and man, the Church leads us gently forward, to 
mingle with our joy at the Saviour's birth the 
solemnizing remembrances of His death and pas- 
sion on the cross. She spreads there, before 
your eyes, the Table of the Lord ; and on it she 
places, by the hands of her ministering servant, 
the sacred symbols of that body broken, and 
that blood shed, upon the cross, for our redemp- 
tion, which the Master commands us to eat and to 
drink, and to feed on Him in our hearts by faith 
with thanksgiving. His atoning sacrifice the 
Church never suffers to be out of our sight ; 
she is always holding it up to our view ; for 
she well knows that it was for this very purpose 
that our Lord came into the world, in order that 
He might redeem His people, and break down 
the power of sin, Satan and death. 

It is very meet and proper that we should re- 
joice on such a day as this. It is fitting and 
right that we should glory in the blessed privi- 
leges of our inheritance as members of Christ 
and children of God. Every thing invites us to 
this rejoicing. Every remembrance of our own 
childhood, and its festal enjoyments ; every fresh 
indication in our children of the same spirit of 



CHRISTMAS JOYS AND OBLIGATIONS. 2 $ 

gladness in Christmas Day and Christmas pres- 
ents and wishes, invite us to keep the feast, and 
to make merry, with an holy joy, before God, 
who giveth us richly of His manifold gifts and 
graces. You will believe me, I am sure, when I 
declare unto you, that I would not knowingly 
throw the slightest shadow over your rejoicing. 
I would not diminish in the least the gladsome- 
ness of your festive preparations and enjoyments. 
Oh, no ; and what I say to you of the cross is 
indeed no hindrance to your joy in believing, or 
to the fullest participation in social and domes- 
tic pleasures. For, though the cross does stand 
before us, on every page of the Gospel, and does 
stand as a reproof, and a warning, and a restraint, 
all the way through life, yet its shadow is not 
such as to cause the Christian to feel grieved or 
afraid on beholding it. Rather is it to him il- 
lumined by a light direct from heaven, a light 
which points his pathway to the Lamb ; and the 
disciple oi Christ knows full well that the Mas- 
ter Himsell Vent not up to joy, but first He suf- "* 
fered pain ; He entered not into His glory be- 
fore He was crucified. So truly our wa}' to 
eternal joy is to suffer here with Christ ; and 
2 



2 6 CHRISTMAS JOYS AND OBLIGATIONS. 

our door to enter into eternal life is gladly to 
die with Christ ; that we may rise again from 
death, and dwell with Him in everlasting life. 

The cross, be it remembered, hallows all true 
joy. The cross throws a sanctifying influence 
over the peace and prosperity of the believer. 
The cross makes him ever mindful of the vast 
price at which his privilege of joy and rejoicing 
was purchased. And taking up his cross daily, 
he daily follows in the steps of his suffering Lord 
and Master, who counted not His life dear unto 
Himself " for the joy that was set before Him." * 
Amid all the happy memorials of this happy day, 
the Christian can never forget where his Lord 
was born, and to what a life He was born. " The 
highest forms of Christian joy," as an eloquent 
divine says, " are ever inexpressibly mingled 
with humiliation ; it is still, to the last, the joy 
of the cross. As if to impress this lesson, the 
Church has followed the commemoration of the 
birth of our Lord with that of the death of His 
first martyr, St. Stephen ; and there are no right 
feelings of joy which can lead us, while exulting 
in the riches of grace which are celebrated in 

* Hebrews xii. 2. 



CHRIS TMA S JOYS AND OBLIGA TIONS, 2 7 

the Feast of the Nativity, to forget the sorrows 
to which the Holy One of God became incar- 
nate/' * 

Rejoicing, then, in the blessed privilege of as- 
sembling together once more to praise God the 
Father, for the Incarnation of His only begotten 
Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, let us ever remem- 
ber who He is, and for what purpose He came 
into the world. Let us moderate our joy, or 
rather take heed that it be such a joy as, while 
it leads us to cling to Him as one who was man, 
may make us continually and thankfully worship 
and adore Him as God our Saviour. Let us 
meditate upon the wondrous love which this 
day is exhibited before us in the Nativity of our 
gracious Lord and Master ; the love which the 
Father has, who so loved the world that He 
gave His only begotten Son to die for us and 
for all men ; the love which the Son of God, 
our Redeemer, manifested, in that He w^as will- 
ing to die for us, while we were yet sinners, 
rebels against His laws, and despisers of the 
riches of His grace ; and the love of the Holy 
Ghost, whom Christ purchased for His people, 

Archer Butler's Sermons, vol. i. p. 25. 



28 CHRISTMAS JOYS AND OBLIGATIONS. 

who is the Lord and Giver of all spiritual life, 
and who "maketh intercession for us with groan- 
ings which cannot be uttered.""* And when, 
following the awe-stricken but believing shep- 
herds of Bethlehem, we look upon the Holy 
Child, lying in a manger, in all the weakness and 
helplessness of infancy ; and then try to realize 
that He is the mighty God, the Prince of Peace ; 
that He has stooped so low as to clothe Himself 
with our nature, to take upon Him all the in- 
firmity, pain, and trial, and anguish, which are 
the lot of mortal man ; — when we see, and medi- 
tate upon these things, which are too deep and 
too vast for us to comprehend, in their fulness 
and manifold relations, and to be reached and 
applied to the soul by living, active faith alone, — 
O let us put aw r ay from us every proud thought ; 
let us humble ourselves at the foot of the cross, 
and pray that we may imbibe the spirit of our 
Master who died thereon, and may have more 
and more of His self-denying, humble, and obe- 
dient spirit. 

And, as every way fitting, at this trying wintry 
season of the year, let us remember the poor, 
* Romans viii. 26. 



CHRISTMAS JOYS AND OBLIGATIONS. 2 g 

for the sake of Him who became poor in order 
to make us rich. Let us take heed to the wants, 
the thousand urgent wants, which surround us, 
and give liberally of our substance in imitation 
of Him who gave all. The poor, who are al- 
ways with us, and always to be with us, have 
special claims on us at such a time as this ; for 
the poor are Christ's poor, and He has put them 
in our charge as a fitting exercise of our faith 
and love When, as at this time, if it please God, 
we shall again partake of the consecrated sym- 
bols of Christ's most precious Body and Blood, 
let it be our part and duty to feel for others as 
He felt for us ; and let us put in practice the les- 
sons which His holy life taught us, — lessons of 
mercy, compassion, tenderness, gentleness to- 
wards all men, in all conditions of life, especially 
those who are of the household of faith. 

With these brief exhortations, brethren, I bid 
you welcome to the sacred feast ; and I call upon 
you by every consideration which can move you 
to gratitude for countless mercies and favors, not 
to refuse to come to His holy table, when so lov- 
ingly urged and entreated by the Master Him- 
self. Believe me, your Christmas joy will be 



30 CHRISTMAS JOYS AXD OBLIGATIOXS. 

incomplete, without the Saviour smile upon your 
festivity ; but how, let me beseech }^ou to ask 
your own selves, — how can you expect Him to 
lift up the light of His countenance upon you, 
when you refuse to obey His last and dying 
command ? Think of these things, beloved ; and, 
as ye value your souls' salvation, " come, for all 
things are now ready." * 

* St. Luke xiv. 17. 



III. 



ON SUBMISSION TO THE WILL 



" I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the 
will of Him that sent me." 



HESE words occur in that long and very 



JL remarkable discourse which our Lord de- 
livered in the synagogue of the Jews at Caper- 
naum. He had been setting before them truths 
of the most vital character and importance. He 
had been expostulating with them at the same 
time, and while holding out to them the precious 
gifts of God's goodness, the true life-giving bread 
which came from heaven itself, He had taught 
them also of His own intimate and necessary re- 
lationship to the scheme of salvation devised by 
Infinite Wisdom and Compassion. " I came down 



OF GOD. 



St. John vi. 38. 




(31) 



32 SUBMISSION TO THE WILL OF GOD. 

from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the 
will of Him that sent me." So likewise, at Jeru- 
salem, He told the Jews this same truth : " I seek 
not mine own will, but the will of the Father 
who hath sent me."* And when He was on His 
mission of mercy to the Samaritans, His em- 
phatic testimony was, " My meat is to do the will 
of Him that sent me, and to finish His work."f 

I shall ask you, brethren, to make this passage 
the subject of your present meditation, because 
of its containing in it a very important principle 
for the guidance and support of Christian people, 
and one of which, I fear, we all are too apt to 
lose sight. 

Observe, in the first place, the explicit lan- 
guage which our Lord uses in speaking of Him- 
self and His mission to the human race. Here, 
as elsewhere, He gives us distinctly to under- 
stand, that every thing which He did, or prom- 
ised to do, was voluntary on His part. It w T as of 
His own free will that He became our Redeem- 
er. It was entirely the result of His own choice 
that He was pleased to enter upon the course of 
humiliation, of indignity, of suffering, of shame, 

* St. John v. 30. \ St. John iv. 34. 



SUBMISSION TO THE WILL OF GOD. 33 

of death, which He endured for guilty man. His 
are the words of one who was as able as He was 
willing to save. He was under no obligation to 
provide a rescue for the ingrate and rebellious 
pair, who had broken the divine law, and brought 
ruin upon themselves and all their race. He 
might have suffered them, had He so pleased, 
to reap the consequences of disobedience, and 
to perish in their sins. As criminals, they lay 
helpless before the Judge ; justice demanded 
their punishment; the majesty of God's law 
must be preserved ; the penalty must be in- 
flicted. And as the only possible remedy con- 
sisted in there being some one else to take man's 
place, some one else to pay the penalty in man's 
stead, some one whose inherent merits were suf- 
ficient to enable Him to satisfy to the full all the 
demands of the divine law ; so, the Blessed Sa- 
viour was pleased to assume this position in our 
behalf. " I came down from heaven," He says ; 
I left the throne of my glory, in that place where 
God specially manifests His presence, and where 
the holy angels ever chant His praises through- 
out eternity. And having taken the nature of 
guilty man upon Me, I came to accomplish the 
2* 



34 SUBMISSIOX TO THE WILL OF GOD. 

work which I had freely undertaken to do, the 
work of subordination to the will of my Father 
in heaven, the work of entire, absolute, unques- 
tioning obedience of soul as well as body to the 
every plan and purpose of Him who sent me. 
This I came to do ; this was my choice from the 
beginning. I knew what was before me. I un- 
dertook the work, perfectly comprehending what 
it was I had to do ; and so, I seek not mine own 
will ; I have no thoughts, or purposes, or desires, 
or plans, but as the Father wills : my will con- 
sists wholly and entirely in doing the work He 
has given me to do, and in fulfilling the mission 
of the Saviour promised from the beginning of 
the world. 

With this clear announcement, on our Lord's 
part, respecting His freedom of action, and His 
voluntary yielding up of Himself, the principle 
contained in His words may w T ell strike your 
attention, my brethren. Its importance I can- 
not too forcibly urge upon you ; I would indeed 
that every one named by the name of Christ 
could be led to adopt it. For, if there be any 
one thing which fallen mortals find it difficult to 
master, it is their wills ; if there be any victory 



SUBMISSION TO THE WILL OF GOD. 35 

rarely attained, it is that over our own selves. 
Self-will is one of our most striking character- 
istics. It is that by which we are continually 
led astray. It is that by which the evil-one most 
frequently deludes us into rebellion and disobe- 
dience to the divine law. Self-will displays itself 
among the very earliest evidences of inward cor- 
ruption in our children. Self-will strives to get 
the mastery from childhood onward to maturity ; 
it struggles with us even to old age ; it never 
gives up the contest ; but is always seeking oc- 
casion to inflame our natural tendency to pride 
and conceit of our own importance in the world. 
According to its suggestions, it seems unworthy 
of beings possessed of the power and ability, 
which we are conscious are ours, to give up 
every thing and entirely to the will of another, 
even though that One be God Himself. We 
feel, most of us, probably, that we can admire 
Abraham's faith, and the wonderful submission 
of His will to the command which required of 
him the sacrifice of his only son's life ; but we 
are rather admirers than imitators of his faith 
and obedience. We do not profess our readi- 
ness to do as the father of the faithful did ; in 



36 SUBMISSION TO THE WILL OF GOD. 

fact, we are generally ready to do every thing 
else but say from the heart, " Speak, Lord ; for 
thy servant heareth."* We can point to hardly 
a single one of the servants of God whom we 
know, and say that he is like Abraham, who, by 
his immediate submission, by his entire yielding 
up his own will to that of God, has obtained the 
most glorious of titles which mortals can ever 
aspire after. Most of us are apt to imagine, that 
this thing or that thing is necessary for us to do 
in order that God's purposes may be accom- 
plished in our day and generation. Especially, 
when coldness and lukewarmness prevail ; when 
the enemy is getting the better on all hands ; 
when the Church seems to be dead to her duty 
and forgetful of her high mission in the world ; 
especially, at such times, are we inclined to listen 
to the promptings of our own wills, and to be 
dissatisfied with the plain path of obedience to 
God's will. What the Holy Scriptures and the 
Church have set forth for us to do, does not seem 
sufficient in the supposed emergency ; we do not 
see the fruit of our labors soon enough ; we do 
not grasp results and consequences as speedily as 

1 Samuel iii. 9. 



SUBMISSION TO THE WILL OF GOD. 37 

we think we ought ; our wish and determination 
are to be up and doing ; we want God's work to 
be done ; we venture, Uzza-like, fearing the ark 
will fall, to put forth our hands to stay it ;* and 
so, under more or less of a pleasing delusion that 
all the time it is the will of God, not our own, 
which is urging us on, we undertake to do that 
which the Master does not call us to do. We 
neglect the daily offices of devotion and love ; 
we are not contented with the every-day work 
of the Christian life ; we want something more 
exciting ; and we can, we think, devise ways and 
means for a more speedy triumph of truth over 
falsehood, and of Gospel purity over vice and 
wickedness on every side. We try experiments 
of one sort and another ; we put our machinery 
at work to add force and activity to the preach- 
ing of the Gospel ; and the teachings of Holy 
Scripture and the practice of the Church are not 
enough for us, at such times. Forgetting that 
God does not require of any one of us to do any 
but his or her own duty, and does not make any 
one answerable for another, we very readily fall 
into the snare of the enemy, and allow the sug- 

2 Samuel vi, 6. 



38 SUBMISSION TO THE WILL OF GOD. 

gestions of our own wills to lead us, instead of 
striving, with all our hearts, to submit ourselves 
wholly to the will of our Father in heaven. 

I am really anxious, brethren, to impress this 
truth upon your minds, and to persuade you to 
realize the force and value of our Lord's words, 
in my text. It is greatly to your spiritual inter- 
est rightly to understand and act upon this truth. 
You ought to know and believe, to your soul's 
health, that God requires an entire submission 
of your wills to whatever He is pleased to or- 
dain in your behalf. 

The question, then, for every Christian is sim- 
ply this, what is God's will ? where am I to find 
it ? how am I to know it ? who will enable me to 
obey it ? And when I do know what it is ; when 
I fully comprehend that God's written Word con- 
tains it, and God's Church and ministering ser- 
vants are engaged in setting it forth and urging 
it upon men ; when I am permitted practically 
to realize that the Holy Spirit is ever at hand to 
enlighten, purify and strengthen my determina- 
tion to submit myself wholly to His will, who 
redeemed me by pouring out His precious blood 
upon the cross ; then, I begin to comprehend 



SUBMISSION TO THE WILL OF GOD. 39 

something of what is meant by casting myself 
wholly upon God then, I begin to know what 
a privilege it is indeed to say, in the Blessed Sa- 
viour's own words, " Thy will be done on earth 
as it is in heaven ;" then, I begin to see clearly 
that God's appointments are the best for me, even 
though I may seem to be condemned to inactiv- 
ity, to obscurity, to reproach, to censure ; even 
though I may be called upon to endure the 
sharpest, bitterest, most mysterious of trials in 
this mortal life. 

If, among you who are here present, this morn- 
ing, there be any who are striving to attain a 
conformity to the spirit of our Lord's words, and 
the example of the entire submission which He 
set, but are painfully conscious that you have 
not yet given up your own wills, and appear to 
yourselves at times as if you would never be 
able so to do, — believe me, I am not ignoring or 
making light of the difficulties in your way, on 
this subject ; I am not forgetting that the path- 
way, onward and upward, is not always clear 
and plainly marked out before you. I know well 
that dark clouds often hang over the road. I 

* 1 St Peter v. 7. . 



40 SUBMISSION TO THE WILL OF GOD. 

know that the Christian, even the praying and 
laboring Christian, is sometimes involved in 
grave doubts and perplexities in spiritual mat- 
ters, and that he is not spared from great anx- 
iety, or from exposure to the infidel, mocking 
spirit of those scoffers who ask, — " Where is the 
promise of the Lord's coming ? for since the fa- 
thers fell asleep, all things continue as they were 
from the beginning of the creation."* It some- 
times happens — I know this, too — that the loving 
and gentle spirit is sorely tried. It sometimes 
happens, that God is pleased to expose His chil- 
dren, whom He loves, to temptations almost too 
hard for them too bear, and to make trials of 
their faith, the reasons why or wherefore they 
cannot possibly see or comprehend. God, in His 
inscrutable wisdom, sometimes takes the very 
choicest of His servants, the most devoted of 
His followers, and demands that of them which 
it seems strange and mysterious to lay upon His 
people. 

There was St. Paul, for example ; a man who, 
in labors and sacrifices for the cause of Christ, 
in every thing which mortal being can do, was 
* z St. Peter iii. 4. 



SUBMISSION TO THE WILL OF GOD. 4I 

worthy to be ranked among the noblest of God's 
creatures, and among the greatest and best men 
that ever lived. It pleased God to lay upon him 
a very bitter and anguishing trial, and to send a 
"messenger of Satan to buffet" him,* and to 
cause him to drink the cup of mortification and 
indignity at the hands of men. Though that 
holy Apostle besought the Lord night and day, 
in supplications and prayers, which we know 
must have come from the very depths of his 
soul ; though he plead and entreated that he 
might be spared from this grievous affliction ; 
}^et, you remember, the Master would not grant 
him his supplication. The Master, with whom 
prayer is almost omnipotent, — to whom the 
weakest as well as the strongest can always ap- 
ply, and are always sure to be heard, — the Mas- 
ter refused his earnest petition. He knew what 
was best for the Apostle. He saw, what the 
Apostle could not, in his weakness, see, that in 
this the Master's will was to be followed, that 
the yielding to the Master's will was as needful 
for the Apostle's own good as for the triumph 
of truth ; and so, His answer was, " My grace is 

* 2 Corinthians xii, 7. 



42 SUBMISSION TO THE WILL OF GOB. 

sufficient for thee." * Ah, it was hard, very hard, 
for a spirit like St. Paul's, to give up in this one 
instance. He had quite enough of the human 
element in him to desire strongly to have his 
own will, in a matter which seemed so plain to 
his mind ; but he had to submit ; he did submit ; 
and he learned, in due time, even to glory in 
those things which, for a period, were unspeak- 
ably difficult to endure. 

In like manner, it pleases God to deal with 
others of His servants ; and we must not despair, 
we must not murmur or complain, if He send 
on us special trials ; or if He refuse to grant us 
some one thing on which we have set our hearts. 
We are very likely to suppose that we could do 
much more good, if we could only have our own 
way, and carry out our own plans. If God 
would only give wealth to those Christians who, 
if they had it, would use their wealth for the 
good of men's souls. If He would give strength 
and health, to those who are not in health, and 
so are cut off from the ability to work for Christ 
and His Church. If He would bestow that wis- 
dom and acuteness and energy upon Christians, 

* 2 Corinthians xii. 9. 



SUBMISSION TO THE WILL OF GOD. 43 

in behalf of spiritual matters, which they display 
in their worldly affairs. If He would bring it 
to pass, that Christians realize and act as though 
they believed themselves to be stewards of every 
thing that God has placed in their hands. Oh, 
we think, if the great Head of the Church would 
only do thus, how much better would it be for 
the progress of the Gospel, and the speedy tri- 
umph of truth and righteousness ! 

But, while, to our wisdom, there are many 
very strange and marvellous things in the way 
and means by which the Master chooses to work ; 
while the history, in the Bible, of man's redemp- 
tion, and the progress of Christianity for eighteen 
hundred years past, are full of wonderful prob- 
lems ; while, at the present hour, it seems a burn- 
ing shame and disgrace to look at the millions 
of human beings in the world, who have never 
heard even the sound of the Saviour's Name ; 
still, we must not despair ; we have no right to 
indulge in distrust. The Lord's ways are not as 
our ways ; * the All-Wise seeth not as man seeth. 
Only, let each one of us do his or her duty, faith- 
fully, earnestly, unceasingly. Let each one pray, 

* Isaiah lv. 8, 9. 



44 SUBMISSION TO THE WILL OF GOD. 

with all his might, for an outpouring of the Spirit 
of truth and light upon the Church and the world. 
Let each one labor to follow in the footsteps of His 
most holy life, who came down from heaven not 
to do His own but the Father's will. And then, 
however dark the pathway, however mysterious 
the trial, however inscrutable the judgment, be 
sure of this, that the Saviour will accept " your 
work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of 
hope,"'* and, in His own good time, will make 
plain and clear to you, the unutterably precious 
rewards of submitting yourselves wholly to His 
guidance, and trusting wholly in His infinite 
mercy and compassion. 

* i Thessalonians i. 3. 



IV. 



GROUNDS OF CERTAINTY OF OUR 
FAITH IN CHRIST. 



" For the which cause I also suffer these things ; nevertheless 
I am not ashamed : for I know whom I have believed, and am 
persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed 
unto Him against that day." 



UCH are among the very last words of the 



v — 1 aged and venerable Apostle to the Gentiles ; 
and in such terms of confidence does he express 
the undoubting certainty of his faith in Christ. 
He was now just at the close of a long life of 
labor and toil in the service of his Master. He 
was in bonds and confinement, and the prospect 
of a martyr's sufferings and death was every-day 
before his eyes. That most holy faith, on which 
his soul was resting from the wearisomeness of 



2 Timothy i. 12. 




(45) 



46 CERTAINTY OF OUR FAITH. 

life, was rejected and scorned by the Jews, and 
treated with contumelious indifference and active 
cruelty by the heathen ; and he himself, left to 
fight the last battle alone,* was waiting, patiently 
and quietly waiting at Rome, whatsoever it might 
please God yet to give him to do, or to suffer, 
for His Name's sake. Not in idleness, though in 
quiet, was he waiting ; for he remembered, wit'h 
unquenchable affection, his beloved son in the 
faith, the youthful Timothy, whom, some years 
before, he had placed over the Ephesian Church ; 
and to him he addresses the last letter which he 
was privileged to write, before he put on the 
martyr's crown. To Timothy he speaks, out of 
the fullness of his loving heart, words of exhort- 
ation and warning against the evil days which 
were fast drawing on ; — words which show, most 
touchingly, how deeply he loved one who, from 
a child, had known the Holy Scriptures ; how 
earnestly " without ceasing he made remem- 
brance of him in his prayers night and day 
and how greatly he longed to see him, and give 
utterance to his joy and rejoicing over him in 
the Lord. 

* 2 Timothy iv. 16, 17. 



CERTAINTY OF OUR FAITH. 47 

There is no hesitation in the Apostle's tone ; 
no apprehension of the present ; no distrust of 
the future ; but the very reverse. As he looks 
back upon the past, the eventful past, he is full 
of confidence and hope in God ; for he is assured, 
that God has been with him in all his trials and 
tribulations, in all his arduous and unceasing- 
labors for Christ and the Church. As he looks 
forward, he is equally full of confidence and 
hope, for he knows that the same Almighty and 
Compassionate Saviour will ever guard, guide 
and keep him in perfect peace, because he has 
put his trust in Him. " I am now ready to be 
offered/' are his triumphing words, " and the 
time of my departure is at hand. I have fought 
a good fight, I have finished my course, I have 
kept the faith. "* Thus calmly, resolutely, and 
even joyfully, the aged Apostle and servant of 
Christ awaits the hour of his release ; soon to 
change the fetters of the criminal into the wreath 
of the conqueror ; soon to pass from the tribunal 
of Nero to appear in his place at the judgment- 
seat of Christ ; and glorying in the cross of the 
Divine Redeemer, he declares the certainty of 

* 2 Timothy iv. 6, 7. 



48 CERTAINTY OF OUR FAITH. 

his faith, in the words of our text, " I know 
whom I have believed." 

In considering these words, it is important for 
us to bear in mind that St. Paul's life and career 
are especially valuable to us and to all Christians, 
as showing the grounds on which his certainty 
of faith was based, and as proving, almost to a 
demonstration, that the religion which he taught, 
and for which he suffered and died, was the very 
truth of God Himself. 

Now, it is clear that such a man as St. Paul 
was, must have had express and positive assur- 
ance of the truth, to enable him to say and to do 
what he did say and do. He could not possibly, 
on such a subject as this, have rested upon any 
evidence short of that which was convincing and 
demonstrative. This is manifest, as well by what 
he was by nature and education, as by what he 
went through in the service of his Master. He 
was endowed with no ordinary powers of intel- 
lect ; he was carefully and accurately trained in 
the learning and wisdom of his age and people ; 
he was calm, sober, acute in judgment; and he 
was, besides, a thoroughly upright, honest, truth- 
loving man. When, on that journey to Damas- 



CERTAINTY OF OUR FAITH. 4g 

cus, he was suddenly arrested by the Lord Jesus 
Himself, whom the conscience-stricken Apostle 
saw in His ascended glory, and whom he was 
persecuting, he waited only to know what the 
Lord would have him to do ; and then he entered 
upon his life's mission. He gave himself up, 
with all his faculties and powers, to preach the 
Gospel, and make known its efficacy through- 
out the wide world. The proof which our Lord's 
life and ministry afforded that He was the Mes- 
siah ; the exact fulfillment of prophecy ; the daily 
evidence of miracles ; the undoubted energy of 
the Holy Ghost in breaking down Jewish and 
heathen intolerance, and in transforming the 
hearts and lives of men; — these, St. Paul saw 
and knew, and these were sufficient, to enable 
him, in the beginning as well in the end of his 
eventful labors, to cry out, " I know whom I have 
believed." 

There was nothing of the fanatic, or impostor, 
about such a man. He was too self-sacrificing ; 
too full of charity and love for the brethren ; too 
far removed from all meanness, or envy, or jeal- 
ousy ; too full of contempt for popular honors 
and rewards ; too wise, and manly, and honor- 
3 



jo CERTAINTY OF OUR FAITH. 

able, in all his dealings ; too ready, at all times, 
to endure all things for the cross of Christ ; to 
be open, for a moment, to the suspicion that he 
was influenced by the vain dreams of a heated 
imagination, or that he was living a lie, and ex- 
pecting to make gain of a lie. No, brethren, his 
convictions were based on facts, such as no en- 
thusiast or fanatic ever pretended to. His pro- 
fessions of truth, his certainty of confidence, 
were not such as an impostor could ever make 
or possess ; for he appealed to facts, known and 
evident to all men, to prove that he believed only 
that which was undoubtedly true ; that he prac- 
ticed only that which the Gospel of Christ sets 
forth ; and that every event in his life showed, 
that he had no end to gain but the salvation of 
immortal souls. Therefore, I repeat it, and beg 
you to think upon it, that St. Paul's history is 
especially valuable to Christian people, not only 
for comfort and example, but because they may 
point to it, with ever increasing confidence that 
he w r as indeed " a chosen vessel to bear Christ's 
Name before the Gentiles and kings and the chil- 
dren of Israel."* 

* Acts ix. 15. 



CERTAINTY OF OUR FAITH. 5 x 

I should, however, fail of attaining the end I 
desire, were I to stop here. It is not enough for 
me to set before you St. Paul, as one who could 
exclaim, " I know whom I have believed," if that 
be all. We must go further than that. We must 
ask ourselves, if we have not already done so, 
how can we Christians of this day attain to the 
same certainty of faith as that possessed by the 
aged Apostle to the Gentiles ? This is the great 
practical question for us ; this it behooves us to 
answer, as honest, truth-seeking men, who have 
souls to be saved or lost. 

Bear in mind, then, I beg of you, that the Gos- 
pel is just as full of life-giving power now, as it 
was in St. Paul's days. We see what it has done, 
and is doing, in the conversion of sinners, in the 
leading men to follow hard after righteousness. 
We see its efficacy exemplified in the purity of 
life among Christ's followers ; the earnestness of 
zeal ; the humility ; the self-sacrifice ; the char- 
ity ; the watching unto prayer ; the abounding 
in good works ; and all such like ; just the same 
now, as in Apostolic days. The Holy Scriptures 
are just as true now, as they were when the Gos- 
pels were written, and when the great Apostle 



52 CERTAINTY OF OUR FAITH. 

spake as he was moved by the Holy Ghost. 
They are as certain realities to us, as they were 
to the first disciples, who saw the Saviour, and 
bare witness to the realization of His promise, 
on the day of Pentecost. The same Lord, the 
same Holy Spirit, the same God and Father, 
who gave efficiency to His Word then, gives it 
now. No lapse of time can diminish aught from 
the divine origin and power of the Holy Scrip- 
tures. No lapse of time can make that less true 
now, which was true then. If St. Paul was cer- 
tain as to his faith, and if his certainty was 
founded on a rock not to be shaken, his certainty 
of conviction is equally available to us, to establish 
us in the truth of the Gospel which he preached, 
for which he lived and labored, and on account 
of which he died a martyr's death. It is not 
necessary for us to see " signs and wonders," in 
order to attain a certainty in our faith. These 
were necessary and fitting at the first, when God 
was pleased to set the seal of His divine power 
upon the mission of those whom He sent to 
preach salvation through a Redeemer. But that 
necessity exists not now. The truth once proved 
is proved forever. It is proved to us and to all 



CERTAINTY OF OUR FAITH. 53 

Christians, with absolute sureness, by the record 
of those who saw and knew and placed on rec- 
ord these infallible evidences of the divinity and 
efficiency of our holy religion. We have indeed 
that which to us is more convincing than even a 
miracle would be. We have the ever-present 
demonstration of God's power and compassion 
in the regeneration, the renovation, and sanctifi- 
cation of the naturally corrupt heart of man ; in 
the ever-present, life-giving energy of the Holy 
Ghost, who gives vitality to all the sacraments 
and ordinances of the Church ; who quickens 
the souls of Christ's people ; enlightens their 
understanding ; supplies them with strength to 
renounce the world, the flesh, and the devil ; 
draws away their affections from worldly things ; 
raises them up to high and holy things ; fills 
them with hope, and peace, and joy in believ- 
ing ; and assures them of acceptance in the Be- 
loved, and a joyful resurrection at the last day. 

Here, assuredly, is the answer to our question. 
Here we can see plainly the grounds of certainty. 
Here we have before us the rock on which the 
faith of all Christians is built ; and every honest, 
sincere follower of the Lord Jesus can join heart- 



54 CERTAIXTY OF OUR FAITH. 

ily in St. Paul's words : " I know whom I have 
believed." For, is not our experience the same, 
in substance, with that of all Christ's people, in 
all ages ? Is not our hope based on the same 
atoning sacrifice, and our joy and consolation 
drawn from the same source as theirs ? Have 
we not the Bible, the Church, the ministry, the 
sacraments, the blessed privileges of communion 
in offices of love ? — all which the first disciples 
had ? Yea, and have we not more ? Have we not 
the long catalogue of the triumphs of the cross, 
in every clime, and among every people, to point 
to ? Who can desire any thing beyond this ? 
What is there indeed beyond such evidence, such 
proof, such certainty as this ? " If any man will 
do the Lord's will," says the Master Himself, 
" he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of 
God," or man* If any of you are doing what 
God commands you ; if any among you are be- 
lievers, penitent and faithful servants of the Sav- 
iour ; if any among you love Him who has re- 
deemed you ; if you put your trust in Him, pray 
to Him, and labor in the cause of His truth ; — 
why, then, you know, as truly as St. Paul did, 

* St. John vii. 17. 



CERTAINTY OF OUR FAITH. 55 

your certainty of faith stands on the same im- 
movable foundation on which the dying Apostle 
built his hopes for the ages of eternity. 

A word or two of warning, however, must 
needs be uttered in conclusion. It may be that 
some of you, who are here present this day, are 
not clear and settled in your own minds on this 
subject. It may be that you are not certain and 
sure, as becometh those who are named by the 
name of Christ, of the truth and power and effi- 
cacy of the religion of the cross. It may be, that 
you are like a great many others whom I have 
met with, cold and careless and indifferent, not 
convinced that it is your duty, as much as 
mine, or any body's, to be in earnest in spirit- 
ual things, and to make yourselves certain and 
positive about your soul's salvation. Now, if 
it be so, let me ask you, and let me beg you to 
answer straightforwardly, whose is the fault? 
Not the Gospel's ; not St. Paul's ; not the truth's ; 
but, alas ! your own. The truth is still, as it al- 
ways has been, the truth of God, clear and un- 
doubted as the sunlight itself, and every honest, 
right-minded man knows that it is so. If any 
one do not know it, he is wilfully blind ; and he 



56 CERTAINTY OF OUR FAITH. 

is in the position of a man who can, if he will, 
close his eyes and refuse to see, even in the 
brightest day that has ever dawned upon the 
earth. But let such an one bethink himself ; let 
the voice of warning and expostulation rouse 
him to his danger. The truth of God can never 
be made any clearer or plainer than it is. The 
truth of God, remember, too, is never forced 
upon any man. It must be received as it is, or 
not at all. The call to penitence, to faith, to obe- 
dience, must be listened to, as that call is and al- 
ways has been made ; or the poor, blind, perverse 
sinner must go down to his grave Avithout hope, 
and with the terrors of the judgment day before 
him. 

But I have said enough for the present occa- 
sion. The difficulty here, as continually in re- 
ligious matters, is not the want of evidence, not 
the lack of proof, not the absence of any thing 
which a reasonable, intelligent, truth - seeking 
man can desire ; but it is the want of heart, the 
lack of will, the absence of honesty in its nobler 
and better sense. It is idle to pretend that a 
large proportion of those who are called Chris- 
tians are really in earnest, and do really believe 



CERTAINTY OF OUR FAITH. 57 

what they profess to believe. It is folly to sup- 
pose, that inconsistency and contradictions be- 
tween profession and practice are not seen and 
noted by everybody ; and so well is this under- 
stood by those who set religion at naught, that 
they too often find occasion to point the fin- 
ger of scorn, and sarcastically inquire, Are Chris- 
tian people any better than other people, any 
less fond of this world and its pleasures, than 
we are ? 

May God forgive us, brethren ; but it is a fear- 
ful thing to feel and know that we are guilty in 
His sight ; that so many of us are not what we 
ought to be, and dare not seek and strive to be 
what our Master would have us to be. May He 
pardon us, and send to us His Holy Spirit, to 
open our eyes, and quicken our hearts, " teach- 
ing us, that denying ungodliness and worldly 
lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and 
godly, in this present world ; looking for that 
blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the 
Great God (even) our Saviour Jesus Christ." * 

* Titus ii. 12, 13. 



3* 



V. 



THE OBLIGATION OF CONSCIENCE. 



" Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, 
their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the 
meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another. ,, 



HE Apostle is here speaking of Gentiles in 



JL their heathen or natural state. The words 
occur parenthetically in the midst of that mas- 
terly argument, wherein St. Paul shows that God, 
being no respecter of persons, Jews and Gentiles 
will be rewarded or punished, according as they 
have done good or evil, and according to the 
advantages which they enjoyed, to a greater or 
less extent, for knowing and doing God's will. 
The Jew, with the privileges which were his by 
the covenant, if he were disobedient and unfaith- 
ful, would receive a severer, heavier punishment; 



Romans ii. 15. 




THE OBLIGA TION OF CONSCIENCE. 

and the Heathen, to whom God's revealed will 
was not known, if he did wrong, would be pun- 
ished less severely than the Jew : both would be 
dealt w r ith on principles of exact justice. At the 
same time, wherever there were any among the 
Gentiles who endeavored to live in accordance 
with the Divine Will, they showed to all men 
that the law of reason and conscience was their 
guide, — very imperfect and insufficient it is true, 
but still their guide under whose direction they 
passed through life and waited for the final judg- 
ment of Almighty God. 

I do not propose at this time, brethren, to 
enter into the argument of St. Paul, as he de- 
velops it and brings it ultimately to its grand 
momentous conclusion. I have selected the 
words of the text rather with reference to a sin- 
gle point, which is plainly enough stated, and in 
which we, too, equally with Jew and Gentile, are 
specially interested. For the Apostle here tells 
us, that Gentiles, although not enjoying the 
blessing of knowing the law of God, as He had 
communicated it to the children of Abraham, 
nevertheless, at times did, and do, show forth 
the work of the law written in their hearts, 



6o THE OBLIGA TION OF COXSCIEXCE. 

their conscience bearing them witness, and their 
thoughts, f. e. y their sincere reasonings and in- 
quiries in regard to their spiritual condition, at 
one time condemning them, at another also, ex- 
cusing or apologizing for them. 

This, then, I apprehend, is the declaration 
which St. Paul makes respecting the whole fam- 
ily of mankind, viz., that every human being, 
whether he has ever heard of the will of God 
as contained in Holy Scripture or not, is still 
bound by the moral law of his nature, a law writ- 
ten in his heart, and is bound to obey the dic- 
tates of the still small voice within, which speaks 
to him and enables him to judge, with more or 
less certainty, between right and wrong. And 
if this declaration be true, as it certainly is, in 
regard to those to whom the Gospel has never 
been preached, it comes with a thousand fold 
force in its applicability to us, Christians, who 
cannot plead ignorance, and cannot say that we 
do not know what the law of God is, and what 
it demands. 

Taking this broad truth as the basis — this 
truth, that every man has a law given him which 
he is to obey — I shall endeavor to lay before 



THE OBLIGATION OF. CONSCIENCE. 6 1 



you, as plainly as possible, what is meant by the 
obligation of conscience, as well as the duty im- 
posed upon us and all Christians to follow its 
leadings, especially when it is enlightened and 
purified by the Word of God. 

Conscience, as you know, brethren, is that part 
of man's nature which not only enables, but to a 
certain extent compels, him to judge what is 
right and what is wrong. It is that principle 
within him by which he approves or disapproves, 
not only of his own thoughts, words, and actions, 
but of the sentiments and conduct of other men. 
It operates as well with reference to the past and 
future, as to the present ; it takes cognizance, not 
merely of the individual man, but of human na- 
ture ; and pronounces concerning actions as right 
or wrong, not merely in reference to one person, 
or one time, or one place, but absolutely and 
universally. Such, briefly expressed, is con- 
science in the largest, fullest sense of the term ; 
and with this definition substantially agree the 
words of my text. Heathen men, as St. Paul 
testifies, always have had, and still have, a law 
or rule written and graven in their hearts. They 
are not freed from all responsibility because 



62 



THE OBLIGA TION OF COX SCIENCE. 



God's revealed will has never been made known 
to them. They have a light within them given 
by God — feeble and flickering it may be, and 
generally is — but still a light sufficient to keep 
them from entire darkness. They have that 
moral faculty which bears witness in cases where 
right and wrong are in question, and which con- 
demns them when they have gone against this 
light within, and approves and justifies them 
when their thoughts, words, and actions have 
been in accordance with it. 

From hence arises the obligation of con- 
science, and the duty of all men to make such 
right and due use of it as the Creator intended. 
But more especially does this apply to Christian 
people. Christians, brethren, have not only con- 
science as a rule for their guidance, but have also 
the Holy Scriptures to which their conscience 
is to be conformed. There they learn what 
are the laws of God which bind the conscience ; 
there they learn that though supreme for each 
individual, conscience is by no means an infalli- 
ble, unerring guide ; and that its decisions will 
be reviewed, and the absolute judgment pro- 
nounced by the Lord Himself at the Jast day. 



THE OBLIGATION OF CONSCIENCE. ^ 

There, too, in Holy Scripture, Christians learn 
how essential it is to their spiritual life and ad- 
vancement, that they continually strive, as the 
great Apostle to the Gentiles did, " to have al- 
ways a conscience void of offence towards God, 
and towards men * and also, that with all their 
efforts, and all their care, they may, through ig- 
norance or error, trangress the laws of God, and, 
under the plea of conscience, do many things in 
violation of His revealed will. 

Take an illustration or two, which will help, I 
think, to show the force of these general state- 
ments and remarks. 

Here, for instance, is a man who chooses or is 
persuaded to give himself up, body and soul, to 
the guidance and use of another man, though in 
so doing he must, if need be, stifle every whisper 
of conscience. He becomes a member of a re- 
ligious or political society, whose head he binds 
himself to obey instantly, blindly, without ques- 
tioning for a moment. No matter what the com- 
mand may be, no matter if it be even an infamous 
command, he pledges himself to yield immediate 
obedience, and to do whatever he is ordered, 

* Acts xxiv. 1 6. 



66 THE OB LI G A TIOX OF COX SCIENCE. 



the same time they are aware that the Bible does 
not undertake to go into details. The great prin- 
ciples of action are expressed in letters of living 
light, as in the Ten Commandments, the Sermon 
on the Mount, the Lord's Prayer, and elsewhere ; 
but the application of these principles to the 
thousand instances which occur in daily life, 
where men must decide for themselves what is 
right and what is wrong, — the application, I say, 
of the principles laid down in God's Word to the 
manifold necessities and duties which each day 
brings with it, they find to be one of the difficul- 
ties and perplexities of the Christian's state of 
probation in the world. 

Men, good men, too, will differ as to what they 
ought to do, or are allowed to do, in the many 
cases which come before them for settlement and 
action. One man will readily and promptly yield 
assent and obedience to the rules and decisions 
which the Church has made on questions prop- 
erly within the province of the Church's care ; 
— as the fixing upon the day when Easter is to be 
observed, the use of a Liturgy, the public wor- 
ship in God's house on Sunday and other days, 
and all such regulations as promote decency and 



THE OBLIGATION OF CONSCIENCE. 67 

order, and the proper training of the young. 
Another will be quite scrupulous on the subject. 
He will require a positive command in every 
case, and if none such can be found, in so many 
words, in the Bible, he will decline giving his 
consent and approval ; he will refuse to join with 
his brethren in the Church, even though what is 
asked for is unquestionably fairly to be deduced 
from Holy Scripture and the practice of the 
primitive Church, — such as the baptizing of 
infants, the order of confirmation, the giving 
positive shape and form to the foundation-truths 
of Christianity in the Nicene or Apostles' Creed, 
and the like. 

One man will go to the extreme of Puritanism, 
which, in its palmy days, used the Bible as if it 
were intended for an exact and detailed collec- 
tion of laws and rules for each and every case in 
human life. Another will hold himself justified 
in drawing most unwarranted, extravagant in- 
ferences from the language of the Scriptures, 
and will vacillate to and fro amid the follies and 
excesses of religious enthusiasm. One man will 
entertain so lofty a view of the priestly office, as 
to try to exalt the ambassador for Christ into a 



63 THE OBLIGA TION OF COXSCIEXCE. 



keeper of his conscience, and will pay such pro- 
found respect to his sayings and directions as to 
put both himself and his spiritual instructor and 
guide in a false and dangerous position. An- 
other will look upon Christ's ministers in so 
mean and unworthy a light, as virtually to do 
away with all regard for the priestly office. In 
his view, any claim to authority on the part of 
the clergy is rather a matter of toleration and 
well-bred sufferance, than any thing else ; and 
exercising the church - going critic's privilege 
quite freely, he will use the largest liberty in 
receiving, or rejecting, w^hat is spoken by those 
appointed to preach the Gospel in this place. 

In these and many similar illustrations, you 
must do me the justice, brethren, to observe 
that I am giving full credit to the sincerity and 
honesty of every man, however diverse his course 
may be from that of other men. I am free to 
admit, that they who act in such variety of ways, 
and have such varieties of views upon questions 
relating to spiritual life and its concerns, are act- 
ing, as they believe, conscientiously. I have no 
right, and no disposition, to pronounce other- 
wise. But it is, nevertheless, my duty to urge 



THE OBLIGA TION OF CONSCIENCE. 69 

upon you the fact, already stated, and which ex- 
perience every day verifies, that conscience is by 
no means an infallible, absolutely safe guide ; 
conscience is no such light as to prove sufficient 
in all cases ; conscience is liable to error and per- 
version ; conscience can be, as it has been in 
every age, made the plea for fanaticism, persecu- 
tion, cruelty, crime, and outrage. 

With this caution, brethren, let me, in conclu- 
sion, beseech you to strive against the extreme 
on either hand. See that you have that rever- 
ential, teachable spirit, which will help you so 
effectually in walking in the pathway toward 
heaven. Search the Scriptures diligently. Seek 
to fill your minds and hearts with their holy 
teaching. Strive earnestly to conform your tem- 
pers, dispositions, and actions, to the laws which 
God has given us in His Word. Banish all con- 
ceit, and fancy, and preconceived notions, in 
studying the Bible. Look well to what your 
pastor says to you, in the Master's name ; and 
bring all that you hear or say to the standard of 
infallible truth in Holy Scripture. And then, 
ever praying God to give you His grace, you 
will daily learn more and more to love the truth ; 



70 THE OBLIGA TION OF CONSCIENCE. 

you will day by day approach nearer and nearer 
to that highest of privileges, during our earthly 
pilgrimage, a conscience pure and undefiled, a 
conscience taught by the Holy Ghost and ever 
illumined with the light of His Divine presence. 



VI. 



WHY DO SOME BELIEVE, AND 
OTHERS NOT ? 

Acts xxviii. 24. 

" And some believed the things which were spoken, and some 
believed not." 

IT has always seemed to me, that the closing 
verses of the Acts of the Apostles are not 
only very instructive, but also very suggestive 
to Christians in all ages of the world. They tell 
us of what occurred at an eventful period of the 
Church's history, and they are among the last 
words which St. Luke put on record under in- 
spiration. At this point the Evangelist closes 
his account of St. Paul's life and labors, leaving 
us to gather from other sources all that relates 
to the finishing years and martyr's death of the 
great Apostle. These verses also show what in- 

(71) 



72 WHY DO SOME BELIEVE? 

tense effort the devoted servant of the Master 
put forth in behalf of those who were his kins- 
men according to the flesh, as well as his affec- 
tionate earnestness in preaching the Gospel to 
the Jews at Rome : — " He expounded and tes- 
tified the kingdom of God, persuading them con- 
cerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and 
out of the prophets, from morning till evening. 
And some believed the things which were spoken, 
and some believed not." 

You can readily picture to yourselves the scene 
which was then exhibited. Here was the vene- 
rable Apostle, who had only just reached the im- 
perial city, after a long and dangerous journey. 
For more than thirty years he had been laboring 
in the cause of his Master, and had undergone 
trials and sufferings of every kind, without fal- 
tering a moment in the path of duty ; and now, 
as a prisoner, bound by a chain on his right hand 
to the left hand of the soldier who kept him 
night and day, he stood before his brethren of 
the family of Abraham, in defence of himself, 
and of the truth to which his life was devoted. 
Here, too, were those who had heard and knew 
somewhat of Christianity and its triumphs, and 



WHY DO SOME BELIEVE? 73 

who had asked the Apostle his opinion and judg- 
ment respecting men who, as they said, were 
" every where spoken against." They had come 
to him in his own place of abode, and he, full of 
that patriotic love which always glowed in his 
heart for his kinsmen and countrymen, ^as ready 
to set before them the facts and truths on which 
Christianity is founded, and which demonstrated 
its divine origin. The aged and toil-worn Apos- 
tle, who never spared himself when the interests 
of the Messiah's kingdom required his time and 
service, embraced the welcome opportunity. He 
took the sacred books of the Old Testament. He 
expounded the divine records. He unfolded the 
truth, in its fullness, concerning the kingdom of 
God. He set forth what it was that God had 
been purposing to do for his people all along. 
Having clearly pointed out what the law and the 
prophets taught respecting the divine Messiah, 
and how all was fulfilled in the Lord Jesus, he 
exerted all his powers of persuasion to induce 
them to believe upon this precious Saviour, and 
yield themselves to be His servants evermore. 
And this was no ordinary effort of St. Paul's. 
It was one of his grandest and noblest, for so in- 
4 



74 WHY DO SOME BELIEVE? 

tent was he upon the great end he had in view, 
that he reasoned with the Jews at Rome, hour 
after hour ; he pleaded with them ; he poured 
out his whole soul in their behalf. " From morn- 
ing till evening," did he strive to reach their 
hearts, and bring them to the obedience of the 
faith in Christ. 

Truly, it was a striking scene, when we call to 
mind the time, the place, the theme, and the re- 
sult : — a Some believed the things which were 
spoken, and some believed not." Truly, as it 
was then, even so is it now ; and we may well 
give a portion of our time and attention to in- 
vestigating some of the causes why the truth 
produces such different effects upon one and an- 
other of those to whom it is offered. 

Evidently, the fact is plain enough before our 
eyes. There is no one who thinks at all on this 
subject, but what sees it, and knows it. The 
truth of the Gospel does not work out the same 
result in all cases. The eloquence and power of 
St. Paul did not always produce conviction. 
Even the Blessed Master Himself met with hun- 
dreds and thousands of those who were unmoved 
by His heavenly words, and resisted all the mar- 



WHY DO SOME BELIEVE? 75 

vellous exhibitions of His love and compassion, 
as well as of His power and majesty. And there 
never has been a servant of the Master, from St. 
Paul even to our own day, who has not been com- 
pelled to note, in his own case, very much the 
same as that which occurred to the great Apostle 
to the Gentiles. Some do believe, some are per- 
suaded of the truth, are obedient to what the 
truth demands ; others are faithless, skeptical, 
disobedient to their Lord and Master. Some 
receive the truth readily, with singleness of 
mind and heart, waiting only to hear what it is 
that the Lord wills in their case ; others are per- 
verse, self-willed, careless, and in love with this 
world and its concerns. The minister of Christ 
may woik with all his energies, may be faithful, 
devoted, unceasing in labors and watching for 
souls ; and yet he will always see before him a 
portion of his flock who do not respond to his 
appeals, who do not yield to the Master's gra- 
cious invitation. The minister of Christ may 
truly and honestly do his duty to the people 
committed to his charge, even all his duty to all 
the people ; and yet, while some believe, there 
are always some who believe not. 



y6 WHY DO SOME BELIEVE? 

Now, let it be asked, why is this so ? What do 
you suppose is the reason, why one man believes 
and obeys, and another does not ? Why is it, 
that so different an effect is produced in the one 
case and in the other ? So far as we can see, 
there is no difference of any account in the two 
men. Both are sensible men, we know ; both 
possess all the faculties of intelligent men ; both 
are able to judge clearly and accurately on all 
the questions of moment which come before 
them ; both understand perfectly well the call 
that is made upon them ; both understand the 
meaning of words ; both attend upon public 
worship; both have Bibles and Prayer- Books 
in their houses ; and both acknowledge that the 
Bible is the Word of God, and so obligatory 
upon all to whom the truth is proclaimed : yet, 
what is the result? One believes, — not in the 
vague, general way, that people sometimes mean ; 
not as if he were merely assenting to things which 
it is of no consequence whether they be true or 
not ; — but believes, with his heart, and lays fast 
hold upon the truth of God, and makes it the 
living principle within him. One, as we see, be- 
lieves and obeys, and the other does not. The 



WHY DO SOME BELIEVE? 

other refuses to believe, in the true, Scripture 
meaning of the word ; the other holds back, 
turns away, and continues in the path of dis- 
obedience, apparently reckless or indifferent to 
the certain consequences of such a course. 

Take another example. Here are two young 
women, possessing much the same advantages, 
enjoying similar privileges of knowing and do- 
ing what is right and good. Both of them have 
received something, more or less, of a religious 
education ; both of them come to church ; both 
of them have Bibles, and read them, at times at 
least ; both of them are intelligent, and compe- 
tent to judge of the value and necessity of that 
which is demanded of them ; and yet one be- 
lieves, and the other does not believe. The one 
gives up her heart's best affections to her Lord 
and Master, and emulates in good deeds those 
noble, angelic women, whose holy lives and min- 
istering service to Christ's people shine like the 
stars in the firmament of heaven. The other 
closes her eyes and ears to the call of her Divine 
Saviour ; and though conscience now and then 
makes itself heard, yet she is content to fritter 
away her precious time and opportunities in the 



78 WHY DO SOME BELIEVE? 

gay, thoughtless world, in pleasure, in dress, in 
amusements, in nothingness ; and she is, as St. 
Paul phrases it, really dead while she seems to 
be alive.* 

The question again comes up, Why is this so ? 
Where lies the difficulty in the way of those who 
do not believe ? What hinders them from em- 
bracing the offers of love and mercy, and yield- 
ing themselves servants to Him who redeemed 
them by the sacrifice of Himself on the cross? 
Is it the Gospel's fault that they do not believe ? 
Is the truth any less the truth, because some re- 
fuse to receive it and obey it ? Is the truth, 
now, any the less powerful, life-giving, and obli- 
gatory, than it ever was ? Surely, no, brethren. 
We cannot get any satisfactory solution of the 
difficulty from such explanations, or attempts at 
explanation, as these. We must look at the mat- 
ter in the light in which God's Word places it. 
There, we are taught what is the real state of 
the case ; and, substantially, it is this. 

God, in His wisdom and mercy, has been 
pleased to bring us into existence, and to place 
us here on the earth for a brief period. He has 

* I Timothy v. 6. 



WHY DO SOME BELIEVE? 79 

given us opportunities and advantages, for which 
He will hold us to a strict account. He has seen 
fit to make our state here one of probation ; one 
in which is to be tested what we are, and what 
we do. He has set before us His truth, and has 
called upon us to obey it, promising to those 
who receive and obey, rewards unending and 
glorious beyond imagination to conceive. At 
the same time, God has so constituted us, and 
so endowed us with faculties and powers, that 
His truth may be rejected by us. He has been 
pleased so to order our condition here, that we 
may shut our eyes, and bar up every approach 
to our hearts, and may refuse to accept His gra- 
cious, life-giving offers. He does not force us, 
He does not compel us to believe and obey. He 
does not treat us as if we were mere creatures 
of Almighty, despotic power, and under com- 
pulsion to do, or not to do, without any choice 
of our own. He sets before us life and death. 
He calls upon us to lay hold upon the one, and 
flee from the other. He gives us thousands of 
reasons why we should cleave unto Him, and 
trust in Him. He urges us, by the most mov- 
ing of all considerations, to seek after and find 



8o 



WHY DO SOME BELIEVE? 



the way of life eternal, through the Redeemer's 
merits, and to make our escape from death ; but 
He does not force us to be saved. He gives us 
the choice ; and if we will have it so, if we yield 
to Satan and his devices, if we are set upon our 
own ruin, God will not interpose His omnipo- 
tent arm to prevent ; God's Holy Spirit will not 
always strive with man ; God will suffer us to 
die in our iniquity and to perish in our sin. 

Bearing all this in mind, we can begin to un- 
derstand why the truth of God produces its 
legitimate effect upon one, and not upon anoth- 
er ; why it is, when the truth comes to you, as it 
has come to every individual in this congrega- 
tion, one believes and another does not believe. 
The fault is not in the Gospel of Christ. The 
blame lies not at the door of revealed truth. It 
is not because enough has not been done to 
bring men to the Saviour, and make them His 
faithful children. It is not because the offers 
are not plain, and urgent, and loving. It is not 
because one is invited and another uninvited. 
It is not because there is any horrible decree, 
condemning, from all eternity, some of our race 
to everlasting misery. It is not because there is 



WHY DO SOME BELIE VE ? g T 

any difference made between the high and the 
low, the rich and the poor, the great and the 
small. No, not at all. The truth of God is 
- full, clear, forceful, convincing ; and it is freely 
offered to every child of Adam. The fault and 
the blame, where these exist, lie at your own 
door. If, when the Gospel is preached unto 
you, you do not believe, you are the ones who 
bring condemnation upon yourselves. You can- 
not make any one else responsible for what is 
wholly your own unbelief and disobedience. 
And when you leave this house of God, this 
day, do not allow yourselves to put away from 
you that which I proclaim in your ears, that you 
are responsible; that the obstacles in the way 
are in you ; and that no one else can be, or will 
be, held to account, for your indifference, your 
carelessness, your neglect of duty to God your 
Saviour. 

I can say no more than this ; and though I am 
far from asserting that the minister of Christ is 
not to blame in some things ; though I fear that, 
at times, it may be his negligence or lack of 
ability, or deficiency in zeal and energy, which 
interferes with the effect which ought to be pro- 
4* 



82 



WHY BO SOME BELIEVE? 



duced upon the people to whom he ministers ; 
yet, let no man attempt to shelter himself under 
so vain an excuse. It is the evil one's sugges- 
tion. It is a falsehood, and a slander upon the 
truth of God's Word, which, Sunday after Sun- 
day, is here read in order to make you wise 
unto salvation. 

Be not deceived. Awake to your true posi- 
tion. Get you on your knees before the Sav- 
iour's footstool. Cry aloud to Him for mercy, 
pardon and faith. And resolve now, while it is 
in your power, through God's grace, that you 
will not be of the number of those Jews at Rome, 
to whom, after his memorable discourse, St. Paul 
addressed the words of the Lord, uttered by the 
prophet Isaiah : — " Go unto this people and say, 
Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand ; 
and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive : for 
the heart of this people is waxed gross, and 
their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes 
have they closed ; lest they should see with their 
eyes, and hear with their ears, and should be 
converted, and I should heal them."* 

* Acts xxviii. 26, 27. 



VII. 



HEROD THE TETRARCH AND JOHN 
BAPTIST. 



" Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man and a 
hoi)'', and observed him : and when he heard him he did many 
things, and heard him gladly." 



OLY SCRIPTURE contains many narra- 



JL A tives and historical accounts which illus- 
trate individual character in a very striking man- 
ner. It is true, that these notices of personal 
traits or peculiarities are generally very brief, 
sometimes extremely so. The sacred penman in- 
troduces nothing extraneous, nothing for mere 
effect, or display, in analyzing or developing 
character ; neither does he take occasion to give 
expression to any of those feelings or emotions 
in which the writers of biography and history 



St. Mark vi. 20. 




(83) 



84 HEROD AND JOHN BAPTIST. 

are apt to indulge. Yet, at the same time, with 
all this brevity, all this absence of detail, enough 
is usually recorded to enable the attentive reader 
to obtain a clear idea of the persons and events 
spoken of ; and frequently, a single sentence, or 
even a single word, brings out into bold relief 
the motives and character of some celebrated 
personage, or affords the means of rightly 
and truly judging of some remarkable occur- 
rence. 

The Evangelist St. Mark, it will be found, fully 
exemplifies the remarks which have just been 
made. His Gospel, taken as a whole, is, you 
know, considerably shorter than either of the 
other three ; yet, it is worth noting, that he 
mentions several circumstances omitted by the 
other Evangelists, and often, by a comprehensive 
word or two, gives us an insight into matters 
upon which the extreme conciseness of the sacred 
narrative does not permit him to enlarge. There 
is, indeed, in this Gospel, a terseness and point, 
a kind of bold sketching of character in outline, 
a severe and rugged simplicity of diction, which 
seem to show that St. Mark was a worthy com- 
panion of that impetuous, zealous Apostle, whose 



HEROD AND JOHN BAPTIST. 85 

son in the faith he was,* and who made that 
noble confession of our Lord's Messiahship in 
advance of all his brethren, f 

Our text, in its connection with what precedes 
and follows it, illustrates, I conceive, very forci- 
bly, what I am endeavoring to impress upon your 
attention. It forms a part of the narrative of the 
murder of John the Baptist, a murder of the 
most atrocious kind from beginning to end. The 
Evangelist simply, I may say, sternly, records 
the event, with no unnecessary words, and no 
dwelling upon the circumstances, but leaving it 
to the diligent and thoughtful reader to draw 
from it such instruction as is suited to his con- 
dition in life, and to the times in which his lot 
has been cast. 

Without undertaking, at present, to enlarge 
upon the life and career of the holy Baptist, or 
upon his ignominious death, I desire rather to 
ask you to look into the character and conduct 
of the principal person concerned in this un- 
righteous transaction. " Herod feared John," 
says St. Mark, a knowing that he was a just 
man and a holy, and observed him : and when 
* 1 St. Peter v. 13. f St. Matthew xvi. 16. 



86 HEROD AXD JOHX BAPTIST. 

he heard him, he did many things, and heard 
him gladly." Here are several noteworthy char- 
acteristics of the tetrarch set before us, in the 
concise but expressive style of the Evangelist ; 
and we may well contrast what is said in the 
text, of this crafty, cruel prince, with what we 
know of his life and conduct. 

i. He " feared John, because he knew that 
the Baptist was a just man and a holy." The 
power of truth and holiness was manifested so 
clearly in the mission of John that, we are told, 
all men " counted him as a prophet."- There 
could be no mistaking the one great object of 
his life ; and his preaching was so plain, so direct, 
and so pointed, while his life was above every 
suspicion, that even the profligate and aban- 
doned could not come where he was, and listen 
to the words of truth and soberness which fell 
from his lips, without a sense of fear and rever- 
ence, however unwillingly entertained. It was 
on this account that Herod feared John. He 
feared the keen, searching rebukes of this just 
and holy man : he feared the judgments which 
John pronounced against his vices and crimes ; 

* St. Matthew xiv. 5. 



HEROD AXD JOHN BAPTIST. %j 

and he feared to look upon that living exempli- 
fication of justice and truth which was seen in 
the Baptist's life and conversation, especially 
when placed in contrast with what he himself 
was and what he was known to be. 

2. But Herod, we are informed, went further 
than this : he " observed " John, i, e. y he paid 
regard to what the Baptist told him. To a cer- 
tain extent, he obeyed the precepts and observed 
the teachings of the holy man of God. His fears, 
and the stingings of an alarmed conscience, drove 
him to perform some of the duties and to give 
heed to some of the services of religion which 
he had been for many years treating with indif- 
ference and contempt. Indeed, under the pow- 
erful preaching of John, Herod could not but be 
aroused to something of a perception of how far 
he fell below the standard of purity and excel- 
lence which the forerunner of the Redeemer 
held up to all alike. He was compelled, in 
despite as it were of himself, to look with rever- 
ence upon the incorruptible integrity and holi- 
ness of John, to fear his courageous adherence 
to the strait path of duty, and to give heed to 
the pointed admonitions and warnings which the 



88 HEROD AXD JOHN BAPTIST. 

Baptist never hesitated to pronounce. Given to 
self-indulgence though he was, and in principle, 
as well as practice, an admirer of Sadducean 
and Epicurean follies and falsehoods, Herod 
nevertheless " observed " John, and dared not 
treat with neglect the words of him, who 
" preached the baptism of repentance for the 
remission of sins," and to whom " many of the 
Pharisees and Sadducees " came to be baptized.* 
Yes, in truth, we may well believe that Herod 
" feared and observed" John, just as, years after, 
the guilty Felix trembled before St. Paul, " as he 
reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judg- 
ment to come."f 

3. But further, St. Mark goes on to tell us, 
Herod listened to the words of truth from the 
man of God, on various occasions ; and we are 
expressly assured by the Evangelist that he 
" heard him gladly," when he proclaimed the 
necessity of repentance and reformation of life. 
Strange as it may seem to be said of such a man, 
Herod positively enjoyed the preaching of John. 
He was not only an attentive hearer of the bold 
and fearless messenger of the Lord, who came 

* St. Mark i. 4 ; St. Matthew iii. 7. f Acts xxiv. 25. 



HEROD AND JOHN BAPTIST. gg 

in the power and spirit of the greatest of the 
old prophets, — that one who w r as wrapt up into 
heaven in a chariot of fire, — but Herod actually 
found pleasure in hearing the word at John's 
mouth. It may be, that the native eloquence of 
the Baptist struck his fancy ; it may be, that this 
eloquence, combined with the stern integrity and 
the simple and austere habits of the holy man, 
was something so novel in the eyes of Herod, 
something so extraordinary, nay, never even 
heard of among the profligate and selfish Greeks 
and Romans of that day, that the mere novelty 
gratified him. Perhaps the force and nerve of 
John's language, devoid as it was of the mere- 
tricious ornaments with which the oratory of 
that period was disfigured and disgraced, ap- 
peared to possess a freshness and vigor peculiar 
to itself, and very likely to please one sated with 
luxurious indulgence and wearied with hearing 
no voice but that of the courtly flatterer. These, 
and similar causes, may have operated so as to 
have rendered it a pleasure to Herod to be one 
of the auditors of John the Baptist ; but let the 
moving cause have been what it may, the fact is 
on record ; and it will be worth our while to re- 



90 HEROD AXD JOHX BAPTIST. 

member it as marking a state of mind and heart 
common to many others beside the tetrarch of 
Galilee. 

4. One thing further is stated by St. Mark in 
our text ; " and when he heard him, he did many 
things/' The conscience of Herod, we may sup- 
pose, was so much aroused, that it was absolutely 
necessary for him to do something towards quiet- 
ing its demands. The Baptist's plain and pointed 
denunciations against the vices and crimes of the 
day, were so full and so irrespective of persons, 
that Herod was forced to give heed to them to 
a considerable extent, and to do "many things" 
which he had hitherto left undone. The Evange- 
list has not entered into any detail concerning 
these "many things" which Herod did ; and we 
can only conjecture what they were, from our 
knowledge of his character and the principles 
which governed his life and conduct. Very 
likely, he bestowed more attention upon his pub- 
lic duties as a ruler and prince ; very possibly, 
he was more gentle towards his subjects, more 
compassionate to the poor, more equitable in his 
judicial decisions, more disposed to pay regard 
to public worship. Beyond doubt, I think, he 



HEROD AND JOHN BAPTIST. gI 

accomplished various reforms ; he lopped off ex- 
crescences ; he dropped some grosser vices ; he 
became externally more decent, and more re- 
spectful to truth and piety ; and altogether did 
" many things" for the better. John, we may 
be sure, faithfully and fearlessly reproved him, 
and set before him the consequences of his sins, 
if unrepented of and persisted in ; and Herod 
was too deeply impressed with the awe which 
consistent, honest preaching of the truth will 
certainly produce, upon even the licentious and 
the abandoned, not to be afraid of the terrors of 
the law ; and in this state of fear and excitement, 
he seems to have set himself to work, and no 
doubt did many of the things which John ex- 
horted and commanded him to do. 

Such, in brief, is what the inspired Word of 
God has set before us respecting the character 
of Herod the tetrarch. You see, brethren, that 
he "feared" John; that he "observed" what 
John told him ; that he " heard" the messenger 
of God, even " gladly ;" and that he performed 
a large number of the duties and services which 
were enjoined upon him. You see, in other 
words, that, as the world goes, Herod was one 



9 2 HEROD AXD JOHX BAPTIST. 

of a great crowd, some better, some worse ; and 
that, being, on various occasions, outwardly re- 
spectful to religion and some of its demands, 
his fellow-men would not have been more severe 
in judging of his character and conduct, than 
they are of the hundreds and thousands of per- 
sons, now-a-days, who give just so much atten- 
tion to the Gospel of Christ, and the commands 
of Christ, as it suits their pleasure, their conven- 
ience, or their deference to public opinion and 
common practice. 

But, leaving this for the present, let me ask 
you to contrast what is stated by St. Mark with 
what we learn of this same Herod in the sacred 
narrative. 

Observe, then, that Herod was an open and 
incestuous adulterer. You may remember the 
story. Herodias, the wife of Philip, his brother, 
was induced to leave her husband, and betake 
herself to Herod, who, having divorced and cast 
off his lawful wife, went through the profanation 
of a marriage with this Herodias, and lived with 
her as if she were his wife. This scandalous and 
disgusting violation of the law of God was ex- 
pressly pointed out by John, He reproved the 



HEROD AND JOHN BAPTIST. 

guilty pair to their face, and boldly told Herod 
" it is not lawful for thee to have her," * as thy 
wife, — a declaration which we may well believe, 
Herodias neither forgot nor forgave. Now, it was 
in this vile manner that Herod was living at the 
very time when, as it is recorded, he " feared and 
observed " John. A slave to licentious passions, 
guilty of one of the most detestable crimes which 
can be committed, he was so much in love with 
this horrid sin, that he could not, or, at least, 
would not, give it up. Nay, sooner than put 
away this wicked woman from him, he would 
go on, and add crime to crime, as we know he 
did, to gratify the revenge of Herodias, and to 
rid himself of the warnings and threatened judg- 
ments of the holy and just Baptist. And yet 
all this while, let it be remembered, the Evange- 
list tells us, Herod " heard John gladly, and when 
he heard him he did many things," 

But again : Herod went still further, and was 
both a tyrant and a murderer. He was a tyrant 
and despiser of justice, in that he took an inno- 
cent man, the messenger of God's truth, who 
was guiltless of any offence, except that of speak- 

* St. Matthew xiv. 4. 



94 HEROD AXD JOHN BAPTIST. 

ing the truth to him, and bound him with a 
chain, and cast him into a loathsome prison. 
That the despotic tetrarch was also a murderer, 
St. Mark briefly but clearly states. Herodias, 
enraged at the boldness and plainness of John's 
reproof, and waiting only to gratify her revenge, 
embraced the first opportunity that offered. She 
had accomplished part of her purpose, in having 
induced Herod to thrust John into a dungeon ; 
and now, Herod' s birthday unexpectedly afforded 
her the means of destroying the life of the holy 
Baptist. Her daughter, Salome, at the great 
feast which Herod made, " came in, and danced, 
and pleased both the king and them that sat with 
him so that, in the excitement of pleasure, he 
promised with an oath, unconditionally, " what- 
soever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, 
unto the half of my kingdom." Salome, in- 
structed by her vengeful mother, demanded the 
head of John the Baptist. This demand Herod 
complied with, and " immediately he sent an 
executioner, and beheaded John in the prison." * 
What a spectacle is here presented to our 
view ! a man whose life was stained with the 
* St. Mark vi. 22-27. 



HEROD AND JOHN BAPTIST. 95 

foulest of crimes ; and yet this same man was 
not without sentiments of fear and reverence 
for the minister of the Lord ! He was observant 
of various religious duties ; he heard the preach- 
ing of the Word of God gladly ; and not only 
so, but, when he heard it, he did many of the 
things which he knew that he ought to do! 
What a contrast between his professions and his 
practice ! Who is not startled by this proof of 
what man is capable ! and what a picture is held 
up to our view of that strange thing called hu- 
man nature, that inconsistency, that contradic- 
tion, which we see to exist in the heart of man 
unsanctified, unrestrained by divine grace ! The 
case of the guilty tetrarch is, no doubt, a strong 
and marked one ; but, we must remember that 
it is only so, because his position in life gave him 
the opportunity of running riot in wickedness, 
and gratifying every lust and passion which 
urged him on. There are, and we cannot ig- 
nore it, there are in the hearts of all men, who 
are not under the guidance of Christ's Spirit, the 
seeds of similar wickedness and crime, and if once 
this restraining influence be withdrawn, there are 
no limits to the excesses into which men may run. 



g6 HEROD AND JOHN BAPTIST. 

Be ye ware of these things, my brethren ; for 
these are clays wherein men need to be warned 
of their danger. These are days when we are 
frequently startled with the terrible conviction, 
that religious profession, and apparently relig- 
ious practice, are nothing worth, when tried in 
the fire of temptation. These are days when 
" scoffers, walking after their own lusts,"* begin 
to abound, and to point to those .who call them- 
selves Christians as no better than other men, 
and as likely to be guilty of offences against 
truth and right, as those who treat with con- 
tempt the commands of the Saviour of their 
souls. Think of these things, with all humility 
and watchfulness unto prayer. Look honestly 
at the truth, as it really is ; and carry home with 
you this one lesson at least, — that any sin or 
offence against the law of God, habitually in- 
dulged in, may do with you as it has done with 
others ; it may leave you in the enjoyment and 
practice of many religious duties and services, 
and yet, when temptation comes in its might, it 
may impel you, with irresistible force, to plunge 
into every species of rebellion and wickedness. 

* 2 St. Peter iii. 3. 



VIII. 



DIVES AND LAZARUS. 

St. Luke xvi. 27, 28. 

" Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest 
send him to my father's house : for I have five brethren ; that he 
may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of tor- 
ment." 

r I "HE parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus 
X is one of the most striking in the whole 
New Testament. It not only furnishes informa- 
tion derived directly from our Lord Himself on 
topics of the deepest interest to us all, but it also 
gives instruction and warning, which it would 
seem impossible for any thinking being to pass 
over without profit. To enter into a full exposi- 
tion of this remarkable parable, would require 
much larger space than can be allotted to a 
single discourse ; to attempt even an outline of 
the numerous and important truths which it 
5 (97) 



gS DIVES AXD LAZARUS. 

teaches, and lessons which it contains, would not 
be possible within the time which, in these days, 
is appropriated to the sermon in the house of 
God. I shall undertake, therefore, to enlarge 
only upon a few points, — as a suitable introduc- 
tion to which I have read to you the verses 
quoted as my text ; — " Then he said, I pray thee, 
therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to 
my father's house ; for I have five brethren ; that 
he may testify unto them, lest they also come 
into this place of torment." 

I. Consider, for a few moments, the condition 
of the person who uttered these words. He had 
been a rich man in the world, we are told. He 
had fared sumptuously every day. He had en- 
joyed every thing that wealth could supply. 
He had been clothed in purple and fine linen. 
He had had his attendants, his troops of friends 
and admirers, his perpetual round of pleasure 
and amusement. Having done well unto him 
self, he had been spoken well of by all men, dur- 
ing his life time ; and had gone down to his 
grave, and been buried with all the pomp and 
circumstance which wealth can throw around 
the last sad offices for the dead. This, in few 



DIVES AXD LAZARUS. gg 

words, was what had been ; but nozu, he is in the 
world of spirits ; now, his body having been 
committed to the earth, whence it was taken, his 
soul is in that place of waiting where the souls 
of all who die are kept until the great day of 
judgment. In this region of the dead, which is 
called hades, or, in the English Bible, " hell," 
where the good and the bad, the righteous and 
the wicked, are separated by " a great gulf fixed" 
and impassable, the Rich Man finds himself in 
torments, crying, with a loud and bitter cry, for a 
drop of water only to cool his tongue, and soften, 
if but for a moment, the anguish of the flame that 
surrounds him. Now, he is a suppliant, he is a 
beggar, infinitely more to be pitied than the poor 
beggar Lazarus, who, in the days of his flesh, lay 
at his gates, hoping to get even the crumbs 
which fell from the rich man's table. Conscious 
to the full what his life had been ; with distinct, 
even vivid recollection of what had passed in 
those days of probation on earth; his thoughts 
turn frequently towards the world he has left, 
and with the fruitless, unavailing strivings and 
strugglings of remorse, he seeks to obtain the 
special favor, in behalf of his five brethren, of 



IOO 



DIVES AND LAZARUS. 



having Lazarus sent back to earth to warn them, 
lest, by similar folly and self-indulgence, they 
bring themselves to his state of torment and de- 
spair. Now, he finds himself going over and 
over continually, and reviewing again and again, 
the many years which he passed in a round of 
feasting and enjoyment ; now, his eyes are open- 
ed to the awful consequences of disobedience to 
God and neglect of duty ; and now, he is with- 
out hope of any mitigation or relief, for relief he 
can never obtain. A lost soul! a soul that knows 
itself to be lost ! a soul suffering torment, the 
most anguishing part of its torment being, that 
this is only its just recompense of reward, and 
that it can never, never end ! 

II. Consider further, what the record states 
respecting Dives and Lazarus, when they were, 
(like as we are), living in this world. Our Lord 
begins the parable by saying : — " There was a 
certain rich man, which was clothed in purple 
and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day : 
and there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, 
which was laid at his gate, full of sores, and de- 
siring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from 
the rich man's table : moreover the dogs came 



DIVES AXD LAZARUS. I0I 

and licked his sores." Observe, now, in these 
few but graphic words, that the Rich Man is not 
charged with any crime or offence against the 
law, and that Lazarus is not commended for any 
special virtue or goodness. It is not asserted, or 
implied even, that Dives was cruel, or hard- 
hearted, or an oppressor of the poor ; or that he 
was at all a drunkard, or extortioner, or blas- 
phemer. No heinous sin is recorded against 
him. Not a word is said respecting him which 
may not be said respecting hundreds and thou- 
sands of rich men, in our day and in our midst. 
In dress and external appearance, he indulged 
himself in every thing sumptuous and magnifi- 
cent; and particularly did he eat and drink, 
every day, in a most luxurious manner, and feast- 
ed himself and his friends and attendants with all 
the splendor and profusion of unbounded wealth. 
This was his daily occupation ; on this he be- 
stowed especial attention ; he made it in fact a 
business,^- the sum and substance of his life. The 
"good things" of this world — as men usually 
esteem them — the fine clothing, the luxurious 
table, the exquisite arrangements for personal 
indulgence, all these, as perfectly consistent with 



102 



DIVES AXD LAZARUS. 



his position in society, he took as a matter of 
course ; and to have these, and enjoy these, he 
counted only his right, only what was proper 
and fitting for him to do in the world. Evidently, 
he was living for the life that now is alone. With 
a settled practical unbelief in the unseen world 
and its realities, he gave no heed to what was 
certainly before him in the future. Loving his 
own ease and surrounding himself with every 
thing which could minister to personal gratifica- 
tion, he brought himself — as rich men too often 
bring themselves in our day — to look, with in- 
difference, upon the sufferings of others, upon 
poverty, want, misery and wretchedness. Laz- 
arus might be laid at his gate, in the very porch 
of his palace, and might be as deplorably desti- 
tute and as striking an object of compassion as 
he was ; and yet the Rich Man did not esteem it 
to be a matter of any consequence to him. The 
beggar and his sufferings were of no real ac- 
count. There was no reason why he should be 
disturbed, because of a nameless, homeless, out- 
cast, or his ease and quietude be interfered with. 
Xo ; let the beggar go, was the language of his 
actions : let all like him go. Why should these, 



DIVES AND LAZARUS. 

and such as these, offend the sight, or come in 
the way, of the rich and the gay and the happy ? 
Why should they who have wealth and luxuri- 
ous homes, be annoyed or troubled at all about 
the poor wretches in the streets, and within sight 
of the Rich Man's windows ? " Soul, take thine 
ease ; eat, drink, and be merry."* Life is made 
for enjoyment. Why should we care for any 
thing but what we have here, and can here en- 
joy ? Thus going on, from day to day, and year 
to year, the heart of Dives grew harder each day 
towards the poor. His sensibilities became more 
and more blunted by self-indulgence. And so it 
happened, that unbelieving, unwarned, disobedi- 
ent to God's law, which charges upon all the care 
and relief of the poor, he went down to his grave, 
and left his elegance and luxury and ease, to find 
himself in the midst of anguishing torment and 
despair. 

Lazarus, on his part, it is to be noted, in order 
to complete the picture and catch its full import, 
received only "evil things" in this life. Poverty, 
hunger, disease, abject misery, the bitterest and 
hardest of trials were his. Each day was a day 

* St. Luke xii. 19. 



I0 4 DIVES AXD LAZARUS. 

of suffering, of humiliation, of scorn, of contempt- 
uous pity, and of vileness. No condition in life 
could be more entirely degraded and miserable 
than this. None could be more calculated to 
tempt a man to envy the rich and the healthful ; 
to murmur against God's providence, which 
seems to bestow His gifts of worldly goods and 
worldly enjoyments so unequally ; and to com- 
plain of the hard lot to which he was subjected, 
as undeservedly bitter and severe. Yet Lazarus, 
though the record does not speak directly in 
his praise, any more than it does in condemna- 
tion of the Rich Man, — Lazarus evidently was a 
man of faith, and patience, and humility. Most 
certainly, he put his trust in the Lord, and if the 
Lord appointed him to suffering, and want, and 
disease, he was content to bear it ; and he did 
bear it without murmuring. His faith was too 
strong, his patience too great, his humility too 
well founded and complete, to allow him to en- 
tertain or utter complaints against the Master, 
who gives, or withholds, as He judges best for 
each of His children. Through God's mercy 
and goodness, he was enabled to see and under- 
stand, that this life is but a brief span, and to 



DIVES AND LAZARUS. io j 

look forward, in hope, to that period not far dis- 
tant, when he should be released from pain and 
suffering, and enjoy rest and peace in the unseen 
world of spirits. And so it came to pass, that, 
day by day, he grew in grace, and increased in 
meetness of preparation for intercourse and com- 
munion with the spirits of the pure and the up- 
right of all ages, now gathered in Paradise ; and 
when the summons came, he laid aside the rags 
of poverty, and the loathsomeness of disease, 
and was carried by the angels into Abraham's 
bosom. 

III. Now, my brethren, if, in what I have thus 
far said, I have succeeded in presenting to you 
the force and meaning of our Lord's words re- 
specting the Rich Man and Lazarus, and have 
also set before you, clearly and truthfully, the 
condition in which these two found themselves 
in the world of spirits, after they had passed 
away from the earth and its concerns, you will 
readily understand, and I trust give good heed, 
to the practical application of this whole subject 
to your ownselves. For, however we may de- 
fine, or have our own notions of what consti- 
tutes riches and poverty, there can be no doubt, 
5* 



io6 



DIVES AXD LAZARUS. 



I think, that substantially, the whole human fam- 
ily is divisible into these two great classes, the 
rich and the poor. All men, too, whether they 
be, or whether they call themselves, rich or poor, 
have the responsibilities and duties which be- 
long to rich or poor, and must encounter the 
dangers and trials, and bear the consequences 
of what they do, and what they leave undone, 
in that state of life in which it has pleased God 
to call them. There always have been, and there 
always will be, rich and poor, in the world. Xo 
theories of social progress and advancement ; 
no scheme for the improvement of man's tem- 
poral condition ; no system of community of 
goods, or universal equality, or any thing of the 
kind, has ever been able to change, or can ever 
change, this fixed law of God's providence. The 
Gospel of Christ every where recognizes this 
point as settled ; and its appeals, its warnings, 
its hopes, its joys, and its supports, are held forth 
to every creature in the wide world, no matter 
what ma}' be his position or circumstances in 
life. 

As we see, rich men, and men well to do, with 
enough and to spare, are living in our midst ; 



DIVES AXD LAZARUS. YQ j 

and the poor, those who can just get bread to 
eat by hard strugglings, and those who never 
get enough, are all about and around us. The 
rich have before their eyes, every day, cases of 
suffering and misery like that of Lazarus ; and 
the poor in the streets, in the lanes and alley- 
ways, and tenement-houses, of our great cities, 
have to endure the gnawings of poverty, and 
the temptations to envy and criminal passion. 
The rich have their palaces, their magnificence 
of personal and social arrangement, their sump- 
tuous fare, every day ; and the poor beggar oft- 
times presents himself at the gate of the Rich 
Man, and desires, in vain, to be fed from the 
overflowing abundance of the luxurious table. 
The rich also die, as w r ell as the poor. Alike 
they go down into the regions of the dead ; and 
alike they learn there, that the judgment is to 
be based, not upon man's condition in this world, 
but upon this one question, whether he has, or 
has not, served and obeyed his God. 

Brethren, see to it, then. I am addressing 
those who are very variously situated in life. 
Some of you, I know, are well supplied with' 
worldly means ; others, I am sure, are not so. 



I0 8 DIVES AND LAZARUS. 

Some of you, no doubt, are rich ; others of you 
are poor, it may be very poor, and even desti- 
tute. But let me speak to you with all plain- 
ness. Remember well, that Dives was not con- 
demned, because he was a rich man ; neither 
was Lazarus accepted, because he was poor and 
a beggar. Oh no, it was not a crime, or an 
offence against God's law, for the Rich Man 
to have the means of feasting and enjoyment 
every day, any more than it was a merit in 
Lazarus to be diseased and an outcast at the 
gate of wealth and luxury. The offence of 
Dives was in the ill use which he made of his 
riches ; in his spending his means upon selfish- 
ness and sensual gratification ; in his neglecting 
and refusing to relieve the poor, and the sick, 
and the miserable ; in his caring nothing for 
want, and disease, and wretchedness, which were 
every where around him ; and in his shutting 
up his heart against compassion, and sympathy, 
and charity. Putting his trust in riches, count- 
ing what he had to be his own, and not as it was 
in reality only lent unto him, only placed in his 
charge as a servant and steward of the Master, 
his crime was, the foolish and wicked daring of 



DIVES AND LAZARUS, lQ g 

those who say, " let us eat and drink ; for to- 
morrow we die ;"* and his condemnation came 
certainly, and surely, and even swiftly upon him, 
just as it has come, and will come, upon all who 
are like him in the world. On the other hand, 
Lazarus was accepted of God because, though 
he was a poor friendless outcast, though he was 
reduced to the lowest point of degradation, he 
never failed to remember and trust in God's 
promises of mercy and goodness. In the dark- 
est hour, and in the sharpest trial, he could, and 
he did, cry unto Him who hears the cry of the 
poor penitent, and in God's good time relief 
came, and he entered into the joy of the Lord. 

See to it then, I say, brethren. Rich men, and 
men who are blessed with competency, never 
forget this lesson. It is not necessary to be a 
thief, or a robber, or a murderer ; it is not neces- 
sary to be confessedly and grossly wicked, and a 
violator of God's law ; in order to peril your 
eternal salvation. Dives was nothing of the 
kind ; yet, Dives lost his soul. So, too, may you 
be as reputable, and as free from censure, as 
Dives was ; and yet, living only for self and 

* i Corinthians xv. 32. 



I IO 



DIVES AND LAZARUS. 



selfish ends, } t ou may go down to your graves 
as he did, and leaving your thousands and even 
millions behind you, be like him, suppliants for 
only a drop of cool water, which then you will 
never be able to obtain. And as for you who 
are not rich in this world's goods, you have set 
before you a great and glorious consolation. No 
matter how poor, how miserable, how degraded, 
how worthless, in men's eyes, you may be, the 
Gospel of Christ, the good news of mercy and 
blessing, are within your reach. The poorest, 
and meanest, and lowest, can believe, can pray, 
can be resigned to God's will, can have and 
exercise those Christian virtues which Lazarus 
possessed ; and if they do, it is certain, that what- 
ever evil here they may be called upon to en- 
dure, they will follow Lazarus into rest and 
peace in the Paradise of God. 

See to it, again I repeat, brethren. Satisfy 
yourselves of the reality of the unseen world. Try 
now to judge, as you - must judge, when the veil 
is withdrawn, and you have passed away to join 
the myriads of the dead. Be not like the foolish 
virgins, who went to search for oil when it was 
too late. Be not like the wicked and slothful, 



DIVES AND LAZARUS. Y j- j 

who begin to knock when the door is shut. 
Hear the warning voice now, while it is permit- 
ted you, in God's mercy, to repent and amend. 
Wait not for the bitter, hopeless experience of 
the Rich Man in the parable, when all that will 
be left for you will be — unavailing, unending 
sorrow and remorse. 



IX. 



ON ACTING WISELY WITH OUR 



" I say unto you, make to yourselves friends of the mammon 
of unrighteousness : that, when ye fail, they may receive you into 
everlasting habitations." 



S these words of our Saviour have refer- 



l \ ence to what precedes, that is, the parable 
of the Unjust or Dishonest Steward, it will be 
necessary for us to bear in mind their connec- 
tion, in order to see and feel rightly their force 
and application. 

It appears, that one of the great proprietors, 
or rich men, in olden times, was informed that 
his steward had, for a long time, been indulging 
in habits and practices which required immedi- 
ate investigation. This steward, it must be re- 



WEALTH. 



St. Luke xvi. 9. 




(us) 



WISE USE OF RICHES, i j 3 

membered, held an office of great importance, 
which gave him power and influence hardly less 
than that of the master of the estate himself. 
Bliezer, who ruled over and had in his charge all 
the goods of Abraham, and Joseph, into whose 
hand Potiphar placed all that he had," are illus- 
trations of the rank which a steward held in an- 
cient times. The rich lord, of whom our Saviour 
was speaking, sent for his steward, and demanded 
a rendering of his accounts. He also informed 
him, that the charge of wastefulness and dishon- 
esty being substantiated, he was speedily to be 
discharged. The position was a critical one, far 
from pleasant, and likely to result in disgrace and 
ruin. On reflection, the steward hit upon a plan 
which showed thorough knowledge of the men 
he had to deal with, and of a large class of men, 
as they are found to be, even in these days. He 
determined to arrange matters in such a way 
with his lord's debtors, that they should become 
parties with him in cheating, on a large scale, 
the proprietor of the estate of his just dues ; and 
he knew that men who would do this, would be 
ready enough to carry out the iniquitous bar- 

* Genesis xxiv. 2, 10 ; xxxix. 4-6. 



H4 WISE USE OF RICHES. 

gain, and furnish him with support and counte- 
nance, when he had lost his office of steward. 
He followed this plan, promptly and efficiently ; 
and he gained the end he had in view. When 
his master heard the full account of the steward's 
proceedings, he was struck with the sagacity and 
shrewdness of the man, and he commended him, 
swindler though he was, for exhibiting qualities 
which men in general are ever ready to admire. 
The whole affair showed such decided ability on 
the part of the steward, that his master could 
hardly do otherwise than enjoy it, even if it were 
at his own cost ; and though there is no need to 
suppose that he was particularly pleased at being 
cheated, yet the thing was done so well, and it 
was such a sharp transaction — as I believe the 
modern term is — that he overlooked the fraud, 
in admiration for the keenness and craft displayed 
by the steward. 

Now /, says our Lord, — and the word is em- 
phatic, — /give you, my disciples, this injunction ; 
/ enjoin upon you a course of action, based upon 
the principle of prudence and forethought, which 
men are continually practicing in regard to the 
affairs of life ; / say unto you, make to yourselves, 



WISE USE OF RICHES. Y x 5 

acquire for yourselves, friends, true friends, real 
friends, everlasting friends, by the right and wise 
use of riches and worldly advantages, so that 
when ye depart this life, these friends, these 
never-failing, ever-living friends, may welcome 
you home to your rest and felicity in an eter- 
nal dwelling place. 

Such a comment as this does our Lord make, 
such an exhortation does He base, upon the nar- 
rative of the dishonest steward and his career ; 
and so plainly does He point us to the practical 
lesson to be learned and acted upon by all God's 
children, that, I doubt not, you are prepared, 
brethren, to give earnest heed to the inquiry, 
what is the spirit in which we should act, and 
what is the principle which should guide us, in 
the using of wealth and largeness of worldly 
possessions? 

Clearly, I think, riches are put into men's 
hands for some good end. God, in His mercy, 
gives men the opportunity to use wealth for 
some good purpose, notwithstanding wealth and 
its accompaniments are dangerous temptations 
to the great majority of our race. The true ob- 
ject to be gained by possessing abundance of 



WISE USE OF RICHES. 



worldly means is, not one's own ease mainly ; not 
merely pleasure, or amusement, or wasting our 
time in an idle, aimless state of existence ; not sim- 
ply to provide for one's children and family, to se- 
cure to them a fortune, and to furnish them with 
money, which is spent usually in personal adorn- 
ment, and such like ; not to bring them up in 
luxurious, expensive, inefficient habits, rendering 
them, in fact, of no use to any one else, a burden 
to themselves, and hardly anything more than 
mere cumberers of the ground. No : Riches, if 
so used, are indeed "a snare," and are almost a 
curse to their possessor ; * and we may rest as- 
sured, that vastly more valuable and important 
objects are had in view, when it pleases God to 
place a man among those who are rich in this 
world's goods. 

Let me make myself understood, brethren. 
There is no censuring or undervaluing, on my 
part, of the using one's means for rightful enjoy- 
ment, in the gratification of taste, and the fur- 
nishing to one's family, friends, and the commu- 
nity at large, advantages which only wealth can 
purchase. So far from this, I am confident, from 

* i Timothy vi. 9. 



WISE USE OF RICHES. x x 7 

our Saviour's example, when He was here on 
the earth, and from the teachings of His Gospel, 
that there is a legitimate use and enjoyment of 
our abundance, and that our Master does not 
condemn us for this use, and does not require of 
us any unreasonable giving up, or giving away 
of what we possess. But then, this same Gra- 
cious Master does condemn, in the very plainest 
terms, the misuse and abuse of riches : His Sa- 
cred Word does declare, in substance, that no 
man has the liberty to spend money chiefly on 
himself and his family, and their gratification ; 
no man has aright to hoard up money, and make 
himself a slave to covetousness, one of the basest 
of passions ; no man has a right so to gather to 
himself his thousands, and even millions, as to 
prevent the good gifts of God from doing their 
work in alleviating misery, in soothing the dis- 
tresses of others, in promoting the happiness of 
our fellow-creatures, and especially in spreading 
abroad the Gospel of truth and peace among 
men. 

Not to dwell, however, upon this, which is or 
ought to be plain enough to all Christian people, 
let me beg you, brethren, to be careful not to 



Il8 WISE USE OF RICHES. 

miss the point and force of our Lord's teaching 
in the text. 

The steward in the parable, unrighteous 
though he was, still acted wisely and prudently 
with reference to the object he had in view. It 
was no praise, observe, of the steward's dishon- 
esty, to commend the skill and ability which he 
exhibited in providing for himself. It is not 
speaking well of a bad man's evil life, when we 
take note of his boldness, decision and activity, 
and tell you that qualities like these are worthy 
of commendation, though the motives of the man 
who is bold and decided and energetic may, at 
the bottom, be thoroughly detestable. A Cassar 
or Napoleon, a Benedict Arnold or Aaron Burr, 
must be looked upon with strong feelings of dis- 
approbation for their cruelty, craft, and treach- 
ery ; but yet these men possessed and exercised 
qualities which, however often they may be 
abused and perverted, are among the most effect- 
ive bestowed by God upon His intelligent crea- 
tures ; and the children of light may well be 
urged to have and to exercise, in heavenly mat- 
ters, the prudence, and forecast, and judgment, 
and wise adaptation of means to the end, which 



WISE USE OF RICHES. XI g 

m 

worldly men employ with such success. Our 
Lord takes the case of the steward, and would 
have us exercise prudence and care, in securing 
our eternal interests, fully equal to that which 
he employed, in providing for his temporal con- 
cerns. He would have us bestow as much pains 
to say the least, in winning heaven, as men of the 
world do, in winning the desirable things of 
earth ; and He would have us be not less wise 
and thoughtful, where our souls are concerned, 
than we are where the perishing body and the 
brief span of this mortal life occupy our time and 
attention. 

Can any man doubt, that if the same skill and 
ability, the same devotion and energy, the same 
unwearied efforts and care, were expended upon 
spiritual matters and upon providing for the 
soul's welfare, which are given to the business 
and concerns of this world, — can any man doubt, 
I say, that Christian people would not exhibit 
the sad and humiliating picture which, almost 
universally, they do now ? If men were willing 
to spend thousands and tens of thousands upon 
religion, instead of upon themselves, and the 
gratification of their pleasures and tastes, can we 



120 WISE USE OF MICHES. 

suppose, for a moment, that the deplorable state 
of things would continue to exist, which now 7 ex- 
ists, in regard to the few and ineffectual labors 
for Christ and the Church, at home as well as 
abroad ? Would there be so few churches, and 
so few laborers in the vineyard, compared with 
the myriads of our population ? Would the cause 
of truth linger, and languish, and find it hard to 
sustain itself, in this professedly Christian land ? 
Would the great mass of our race still be under 
the loathsome despotism of heathen blindness 
and ignorance? Would it be possible that more 
than eighteen hundred years should have passed 
away, since our Lord dwelt among men, and the 
world be still mostly in darkness ? and that there 
should be still nine hundred and fifty millions of 
heathen, and only three hundred millions of those 
who have heard even the name of a Saviour and 
a Redeemer ? 

No, brethren ; there is but one answer to be 
given to such questions, and it is an answer 
which may well humiliate us, who profess and 
call ourselves Christians, in the sight of our 
Lord and Master. ' He tells us, that the children 
of this world are, in their generation, wiser and 



WISE USE OF RICHES. I2 i 

more prudent than the children of light ; and 
every day proves its truth ; for, as a rule, the 
children of this world go about what they have 
to do with all their hearts and souls, and they 
bring to bear all the qualities which are likely to 
ensure success. But the children of light, far 
too commonly, give neither time nor energy to 
their spiritual concerns ; and they act in such 
wise, as they would be ashamed to act in man- 
aging their business, or worldly affairs. 

Bring the matter, however, home to your- 
selves, brethren. The lesson to be learned is 
plain enough, and not at all hard to be under- 
stood. If God has placed a competency of 
means, or an abundance of wealth, in your 
hands, you are to use that abundance wisely, 
and prudently, with reference to your eternal 
interests. You are to lay up treasures in heaven. 
You are to embrace the opportunities afforded 
you of showing love to the poor saints, for 
Christ's sake. You are to acquire friends to 
yourselves of the household of faith by acts and * 
offices of kindness and charity. And you are 
to do all in your power, so to make use of the 
mammon of this world, that you may help to 
6 



122 



WISE USE OF RICHES. 



spread abroad the unsearchable, precious riches 
of the Gospel. The way is open before you. 
The path is plainly marked out, in which you 
are to walk. You must make your choice whom 
you will serve. You must serve God, or you 
must yield yourselves servants to one who will 
ruin every soul that he possibly can. There is 
no middle ground. God is our Lord and Mas- 
ter by right, and every true interest leads to our 
clinging to His service. But if you do not do 
this, then the evil one will certainly obtain do- 
minion over you. God will not accept a divided 
service. You must be His, openly, honestly, 
bravely, fighting manfully under the banner of 
the cross ; or He will reject you, He will say, " I 
never knew you."* 

Let me beseech you, to beware of that pre- 
vailing tendency to lower the high standard of 
Scripture on this subject, and to explain away 
its solemn language. The warnings of our Lord 
stand out on the page of the Word of God with 
marked, even fearful significance. The peril is 
great for every soul who does not strive to sanc- 
tify all that he has to the Master's use, and who 

* St. Matthew vii. 23. 



WISE USE OF RICHES. 12 <$ 

does not labor each day to become more and 
more like the Saviour, in His life of self-sacrifice 
for the redemption and restoration of our race. 
This is not our home. We are " strangers and 
pilgrims on the earth. " * We must not linger by 
the way. We must " make to ourselves friends/' 
by the right use of what^God has placed in our 
hands. And then, " when we fail," when we are 
summoned to take our departure from this world 
of probation, we shall be received, and welcomed 
home to our rest, in " everlasting habitations. " 

* Hebrews xi. 13. 



X. 



SADDUCEAN INFIDELITY CONFUTED. 



" Now that the dead are raised, even Moses shewed at the 
bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the 
God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. For He is not a God of 
the dead, but of the living : for all live unto Him." 



HERE was, among the Jews, in the days 



X of our Saviour, a class of persons called 
Sadducees. They were rather noted than other- 
wise for their position in the community, hold- 
ing high offices, and being men of considerable 
distinction, ecclesiastically, personally, and politi- 
cally. They formed the great balancing power 
to the rival and numerous sect of the Pharisees, 
and like their rivals had existed for about two 
and a half centuries. Their professed principles 
w r ere the very reverse of those of the Pharisees. 
In general, they looked upon this world and its 



St. Luke xx. 37, 38, 




SADDUCEAN INFIDELITY CONFUTED. i2 $ 

enjoyments as the all-in-all for man ; and they 
did not care to trouble themselves in any wise 
about the future. They treated with frequent 
sneers and supercilious contempt, the prevailing 
opinions among their opponents, that there were 
really angels and spiritual beings ; that the soul 
existed after its separation from the body ; and 
that there was to be a resurrection from the 
dead. They held, so far as man was concerned, 
that he was a beautiful organization of matter 
and spirit, a marvel of mechanism and skill ; but 
they did not believe in his existence after death ; 
and they totally denied the resurrection. Self- 
satisfied, practical infidels, they were what the 
world is disposed to call the wise men of their 
day ; the men, who let no fears of the future dis- 
turb the enjoyment of the present ; the men, who 
in the pride of intellect, in the strength of body, 
in the tenacity of will, in the possession of wealth, 
and honor, and every thing which can make this 
life desirable, in the heyday and sunshine of 
prosperity, can, without much difficulty, per- 
suade themselves that death, judgment, eternity, 
heaven; and hell, are empty names, fit only to 
terrify the vulgar and ignorant crowd. 



126 SADDUCEAX IXFIDELITY CONFUTED. 

The Sadducees, however, did not openly and 
avowedly deny the Scriptures to be the Word 
of God. They were too politic for that. On 
the contrary, they pursued the more convenient 
and safe plan, of objecting to some portions, and 
finding fault with others. As a w r hole, they were 
not unwilling to have it supposed that they be- 
lieved in the Old Testament Scriptures as the 
Word of God ; but then, in reality, it was only 
so far, and in such respects, as it suited them 
to receive it. If any of its doctrines was not 
agreeable to them, they had no scruple in reject- 
ing it; and whatever the Bible might say, it made 
no difference, if they had determined not to re- 
ceive it. In effect, they were as really infidels as 
the mass of German and English neologists and 
rationalists of the present day ; but, in profes- 
sion, they were much like these same, and were 
considered as among those who claim to believe, 
in some sense, in the Holy Scriptures. Their 
religion was a mere cloak for their sins ; it was 
only a convenient covering to shield them from 
public odium. They cared not for God, neither 
regarded man. They were harsh, severe, unfeel- 
ing, uncharitable, and cruel to the poor and the 



SADD UCEAX IX FIDE LIT Y CONFUTED. x 2 7 

distressed ; and, in all their ways, they mani- 
fested a supreme devotion to Epicurean luxuries 
and pleasures, and a settled determination to eat, 
drink and be merry, no matter, if need be, what 
sacrifice of principle, what cruelty or oppression, 
might be the consequence. 

These were the men whose names occur fre- 
quently in the Gospel history and in the Acts of 
the Apostles ; and with these our text is directly 
connected. 

Our Saviour, it will be recollected, on more 
than one occasion, had silenced the carping 
Pharisees, much no doubt to the delight of their 
hated rivals. The Sadducees, however, who saw 
how eagerly the Lord Jesus was listened to ; how 
marvellous was the wisdom and power of His 
speech ; how searching and convincing were His 
arguments ; felt that it would not comport with 
their dignity and importance, to allow Him thus 
to go on unquestioned and unembarrassed. They 
were not at all willing, that He should attain such 
commanding influence over the people, without 
letting it be seen that they, at least, deemed His 
pretensions unfounded, and the multitude credu- 
lous and silly for following after Him. And so 



1 28 SADD UCEAN INFIDELITY CONFUTED. 

they propounded unto our Lord one of their fa- 
mous questions, recorded in the verses preced- 
ing the text. It relates to the case of the woman, 
who, in accordance with the provisions of the 
Mosaic law, had been the wife of seven brothers 
in succession. " In the resurrection, whose wife 
is she 99 to be ? they asked. 

" Master, you tell us, that there is a resurrec- 
tion, and that hereafter the bodies of the dead 
shall come out of their graves, and that, when 
souls and bodies are united together, men and 
women will be as they were before. Why, what 
will you do with such cases as this ? how will 
you settle this difficulty ? You cannot give the 
wife to all the seven ; and yet each one of them 
has an equal claim to her. Tell us, Master, 
how, in the resurrection, — if there be, as you 
say, a resurrection, — this perplexity will be re- 
moved ?" 

The question was a frivolous, impertinent, and 
even insolent one ; yet, the Saviour condescended 
to answer it. " Ye Sadducees," — He says to 
them, waiting, with an air of easy triumph, to 
hear His reply, — " Ye are perverse scorners. Ye 
neither know the Scriptures, which ye pretend 



SADD UCEAN IN FIDE LIT V CONFUTED i 2 g 

to quote, and which plainly intimate a resurrec- 
tion, nor yet the power of Almighty God, who 
can as easily raise the dead, as He did, at the 
beginning, create man out of the dust of the 
ground. Observe now : marriage is a Divine 
ordinance, necessary for mankind in this life ; but 
in the future world there is neither any neces- 
sity for, nor any such institution as, marriage. 
The needs of the present life exist no longer. 
There is no more death ; no more need of pro- 
viding for the losses caused by death ; no more 
probation ; no more uncertainty. The ransomed 
of God are the children of God, being the chil- 
dren of that glorious resurrection, when they shall 
be equal to the angels, in purity and eternal bliss. 
Wherefore ye do greatly err, not knowing the 
Scriptures nor the power of God/' 

With this pointed rebuke to all such question- 
ing, the matter, under ordinary circumstances, 
might have been permitted to rest : but so it did 
not seem good to Him, who knew what was in 
man, and who always sternly denounced the 
hypocrisy and wilful ignorance of the enemies of 
truth. It had suited the purpose of these Saddu- 
cees to quote Moses, just now, when they thought 
6* 



1 30 SADD UCEA A r IX FIDE LIT Y CONFUTED. 

that his name and authority- could be used to ad- 
vantage. The Saviour avails Himself of this fact, 
and that their conceit and pretension might ef- 
fectually be silenced, He sets before them what 
Moses really did teach, on the subject of another 
life, and He declares plainly, in the audience of 
all the people, what are the doctrines of that 
great lawgiver, whose authority they would not 
dare openly to deny, 

" Now/' — says He, as in our text, — you self- 
wise and ignorant Sadducees, listen to me : — 
" That the dead are (to be) raised, even Moses 
showed at the bush, when He calleth the Lord 
the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and 
the God of Jacob. For He is not a God of the 
dead, but of the living. " You say that there is 
no resurrection ; that there are no angelic beings 
in heaven above, and no spirits which outlive 
the mortal body ; that there is nothing for man 
after death, but perishing forever. Hear what 
Moses declares, when recording what Jehovah 
said to him, " I am the God of Abraham, the 
God of Isaac, the God of Jacob."" Abraham 
was dead, when these words were uttered, Isaac 

* Exodus iii. 6. 



SADDUCEAN INFIDELITY CONFUTED. I g I 

was dead, Jacob was dead, hundreds of years be- 
fore, and according to your vain conceits were 
only dust and ashes ; and yet, Jehovah declares, 
"I am the God of Abraham, I am the God of 
Isaac, I am the God of Jacob." The souls, there- 
fore, of these holy servants of God were, and are 
still, alive in the land of spirits. They were not 
in Moses's days, they are not now, perished and 
lost, though their bodies have long ago turned 
to corruption. " For He is not a God of the 
dead, but of the living." He is not a " God of 
lifeless clay, of mouldered carcasses, of dust and 
rottenness. Besides, with what propriety of 
speech can the ashes of the ground be yet called 
Abraham, or Isaac, or Jacob? Those names are 
the names of persons, not of senseless earth ; 
therefore the patriarchs are still living, still intel- 
ligent beings, and God declares that He is still 
their God."* 

I must beg you to observe, my brethren, just 
where the point of the argument lies. You may, 
perhaps, think that our text does not prove, 
clearly and directly, the resurrection of the body. 
It does not indeed prove, nor was it intended to 

* See Waterland's Works, vol. v. p. 672. 



132 SADD UCEAN IX FID ELI T Y CONFUTED. 

prove, that fundamental doctrine as clearly as 
many other passages in Holy Writ do ; but in 
effect, in dealing with the Sadducees, and infidels 
of that stamp, our text was most powerful and 
conclusive. It settled the point at once, that the 
soul lives after the body is dead. If the soul 
survives the body, the conclusion is inevitable, 
that there is a future state of existence ; there is 
an account to be given ; there is a judgment to 
come. The Sadducees, that they might give full 
rein to their passions and desires, denied every 
thing beyond this present life ; and they tried to 
persuade themselves, that man dies as the brute 
dies, and perishes utterly in the grave. The 
text proves, that that refuge of the ungodly is 
false and worthless, It cuts up by the roots the 
Sadducean heresy. It shows that the soul is 
preserved in existence by God, for wise pur- 
poses, beyond this life. It assures the good that 
they shall not fail of the reward promised to the 
faithful and obedient. It sets before the wicked 
the certainty of punishment, which they must 
look for hereafter. And further, the immortality 
of the soul being proved, it is a necessary infer- 
ence that the body shall be raised again. Abra- 



SADDUCEAN INFIDELITY CONFUTED. 133 

ham, and all the children of Abraham, now in 
Paradise, are not in the enjoyment of all those 
blessings and privileges which God's children 
are permitted to claim ; nor can they be until 
they are reunited to their bodies, and are thus 
complete in body and soul forever and ever. 
The unholy and the profane, who have despised 
God's law when in the body, are not suffering 
the just punishment of their sins, while reserved 
in darkness for the great day of account ; nor can 
they suffer all that their offences deserve, until, 
in body as w T ell as soul, they shall become mon- 
uments of God's wrath against sin, and thus vin- 
dicate His justice and truth throughout eternity. 

In such wise was it that our Blessed Saviour 
dealt with the Sadducees on this occasion. The 
argument, as you see, was irresistible and per- 
fectly conclusive ; and so plain and direct was it 
to the point, that the people, who were standing 
around, listening with deep interest to the Mas- 
ter's words, were full of astonishment at the force 
and clearness of what He said. And those scorn- 
ing pretenders to knowledge of divine truth, 
who had so often succeeded in involving the rab- 
bis and wise men of the Pharisees in inextricable 



134 SADDUCEAN IXFIDELITY CONFUTED. 

difficulties by their questions about the resurrec- 
tion, — and no wonder, since the rabbinical argu- 
ments for this truth were puerile enough, and 
well nigh contemptible, — those proud boasters 
had not a word to say ; but, ashamed and con- 
founded, they left the presence of the Master in 
profound silence and mortification. 

The practical and wholesome lessons taught us 
by the text, and our Lord's exposition of its truth 
and force, ought by no means to be lost sight 
of by us. If the Sadducees were without excuse 
under the law, as clearly they were, for doubting 
or denying the resurrection, what shall be said 
of any among us, who, under the Gospel, can 
doubt, and pretend for a moment to question, 
this momentous truth? Patriarchs, and holy 
men of old, as we know, always looked forward, 
in hope, to the resurrection of the just. God's 
promises, under the law, necessarily included it. 
And the Jews, as a body, in our Saviour's days, 
held that the dead, at least the righteous dead, 
shall rise again. But there was not to them, as 
there is to us, a most clear, full, and distinct 
enunciation of the doctrine, and infallible proofs 
of it, derived from the testimony of eye-witnesses. 



SADDUCEAN I A 'FID ELI T Y CONFUTED. ^5 

Those ancient worthies looked forward, in faith, 
waiting for God's own good time, waiting in 
hope, trusting to Him who had promised the 
Messiah to come in the fullness of time. But we, 
who have had the first fruits of the resurrection 
set before us, in the glorious rising from the dead 
of our Lord Jesus Christ ; we, who have heard 
Apostles tell of it, as eye-witnesses, and have had 
it distinctly and constantly announced, by Apos- 
tles, Evangelists, and Prophets, under the in- 
spiration of the Holy Ghost, in every book, nay, 
almost every page, of the New Testament ; we 
are absolutely certain that the dead shall rise 
again, and that " we shall all stand before the 
judgment seat of Christ," * at the last day. We 
can find no excuse, but in Sadducean material- 
ism or infidelity. We cannot make any such 
plea, as want of clearness and fullness of proof ; 
and we must acknowledge, if we believe the 
Scriptures at all, that " the hour is coming, in 
the which all that are in the graves shall come 
forth ; they that have done good, unto the res- 
urrection of life ; and they that have done evil, 
unto the resurrection of damnation."! 

* Romans xiv, 10. f St. John v. 28, 29. 



1 36 SADD UCEAN IX FIDELITY CONFUTED. 

Be ye warned, then, if any here be present, 
who have given ear to the lying voice of the 
tempter, and who may have tried to persuade 
yourselves, that death is the end of all things. Be 
warned ; for the soul does not die ; the soul 
cannot die. There is an account to be given. 
There is a resurrection of the body. There 
is a judgment to come. There is everlast- 
ing misery to the impenitent and unbelieving. 

On the other hand, be of good courage, ye 
waiting servants of God. Look forward, in sure 
and certain hope, to your joyful resurrection. 
Your bodies must indeed dissolve into dust. 
You, too, must lie down in your graves. But 
God's promises are ever to be relied upon. Ye 
shall rise again. He is the God of Abraham, of 
Isaac, and of Jacob, and of all the children of 
Abraham. Commit your dead ones unto Him, 
in faith and trust. He will raise them up, at the 
last day ; and then, having your perfect consum- 
mation and bliss, both in body and soul, you 
" shall ever be with the Lord," in eternal rest 
and peace." 

* 1 Thessalonians iv. 17. 



XL 



u 



GO FORWARD. 



Exodus xiv. 15. 

" And the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto 
me ? Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward." 



SUPPOSE, my brethren, that there is no 



JL portion of Holy Scripture more " profitable 
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for in- 
struction in righteousness,"* than that in which 
is recorded the history of God's ancient people. 
In every position in which they were placed, we 
see the hand of the Lord revealed ; in every 
event and circumstance of their career, we see 
His providence displayed, as well to punish as 
to save ; and from the day that it pleased God to 
choose Abraham to be the father of the faithful, 
all along through the track of ages, down to the 
time when his descendants were scattered, as 




* 2 Timothy iii. 16. 



138 11 go forward:* 

they now are, over the face of the earth, we see 
how exactly the promises and threatenings of the 
Lord were fulfilled, and how perfectly His lov- 
ing mercy and compassion, no less than His jus- 
tice and truth, were exemplified. There is no 
history in the world like that of the chosen peo- 
ple ; for it has been written under the guidance 
of the Holy Ghost. It points out to us the per- 
petual superintendence of God over the affairs 
of men. It teaches us of the strength and power 
of faith ; of the rewards of obedience ; of the cer- 
tainty of retribution ; of the final triumph of the 
truth of God ; and, with the record in our hands 
of what He has done in the past, it assures us in- 
fallibly of what He will do in the future ; and 
that all nations and kindreds and tongues shall 
know, that " the Lord is long suffering and of 
great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgres- 
sion, and by no means clearing the guilty."* It 
is a history full of marvels. It is a history which 
we can study day by day, and day by day learn 
something new from it. It is a history which 
has been " written for our learning, that we 
through patience and comfort of the Scriptures 

* Numbers xiv. 18. 



" GO FORWARD." l ? > g 

might have hope" and peace and joy in believ- 
ing* 

And so I might go on, and enlarge upon this 
fruitful theme, and point you to the varied sig- 
nificance, the pathos, the beauty, the power, and 
the sublimity, of the Old Testament Scriptures ; 
but such was not my purpose in selecting the 
text. Knowing how easily we all fail of learning 
the lessons we ought to learn from God's Word, 
by having our thoughts directed to generals 
rather than particulars, it is my present design to 
endeavor to fasten your attention upon the one 
great lesson which Ave, Christian people, may learn 
from the passage of Scripture which was just 
now read in your ears : — " And the Lord said unto 
Moses, wherefore criest thou unto me? Speak 
unto the children of Israel that they GO for- 
ward." 

I. Consider the circumstances under which 
these words were spoken by God. You remem- 
ber, in the chapters preceding, how that the Lord 
had been pleased to listen to the cry of His op- 
pressed and enslaved people in Egypt ; how He 
had raised up a mighty deliverer for them in the 

* Romans xv 4. 



140 '• GO FORWARD r 

person of His servant Moses ; and how, having 
severely punished the king of Egypt, for his long 
career of outrage and cruelty, He had rescued 
them from the dominion of their tyrannical mas- 
ters, and had commanded them to take up their 
march for "the land of promise. " At first, this 
no doubt appeared to be an easy thing. Canaan 
was only a week or ten days' journey distant ; 
and very probably they imagined, that there 
would be no difficulty in proceeding directly 
thither, and taking possession of their goodly her- 
itage. But such was not the plan of God's deal- 
ing with them. He knew that they were not at 
all in a fit condition to enter upon the enjoyment 
of rest and peace, in the land promised to their 
fathers. They needed a long course of disci- 
pline and of training, to purge out the leaven of 
a servile spirit and manner of life, and to prepare 
them for the sharp and severe contests with the 
inhabitants of Canaan. And so, going before 
them in a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of 
fire by night, the Lord led them out into the wil- 
derness towards the Red Sea. Even then, they 
thought that they were to march round the head 
of the sea, and so make their way to the place 



"GO FORWARD." I4I 

where sacrifices were to be offered unto the Lord 
God. But suddenly, the command comes to 
them, to turn from the path they were pursuing, 
and to encamp amid the rocky and intricate de- 
files on the borders of the sea, — why, they knew 
not, and could not in any wise divine. 

Pharaoh, deeply mortified, but not subdued, 
heard of the position in which the children of 
Israel now were. Supposing that they had lost 
their way, and got entangled in the land, and 
would thus be an easy prey to his arms, he re- 
proached himself that he had let the people go 
from their bondage ; and he gathered his men of 
war, his chariots and his horsemen, together, 
and set out eagerly in pursuit, forgetful of 
every thing, forgetful of the sore plagues and 
trials, and especially the last and bitterest of 
all, when " there was not a house in Egypt where 
there was not one dead and, madly intent upon 
revenge, he shut his eyes to the consequences of 
his insane contest with the Lord God of Israel. 
He pushed forward with hot haste. He urged 
on his horses and chariots, his horsemen and his 
army. He was sure that they were within his 
grasp ; they could not escape ; they must fall be- 



1^2 " GO FORWARD." 

fore his attack ; and he " overtook them encamp- 
ing by the sea and exulted in the prospect of 
victory. 

The children of Israel had thus far obeyed 
with alacrity the guidance of the pillar of cloud 
and of fire, and had marched forward readily to 
the encampment by the sea-side ; but now, when 
the army of Pharaoh drew nigh, and they seemed 
to be about to fall a prey to the tyrannous hatred 
of those who had so long and so grievously af- 
flicted them, they sank into terror and despond- 
ency. There was no way of escape. On the 
right hand, and on the left, they were enclosed 
in: in front, -the deep, impassable sea; on either 
side, the crags and precipitous defiles ; behind 
them, the enraged king of Egypt and his army. 
Despite the manifold evidences of God's power 
and protecting care in their behalf, despite all 
that He had done for them and promised to do 
for them, they trembled with fright, and mur- 
mured against God. They angrily reproached 
Moses, as if he had brought them out into the 
wilderness only to die; and they exclaimed, out 
of the depth of mean and craven spirits, " it had 
been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than 



"go forwards I4 3 

that we should die in the wilderness. " Their 
great leader sought to animate and encourage 
them to trust in the Lord, for He would fight 
for them and deliver them. " Stand still/' he 
said, " and see the salvation of the Lord, which 
He will show you to-day ;" when, suddenly, as 
in our text, the Lord's voice came to Moses, who 
was supplicating His help, " Wherefore criest 
thou unto me ? Speak unto the children of Israel 
that they go forward." Here was no place to 
halt. This was not their stopping place. They, 
were to go straight onward, the command of 
God being their surety, that the path of duty is 
the path of safety, however impossible to walk in it 
may appear. What, though the deep waters of the 
engulfing sea were before them. What, though 
the pathway led directly into the overwhelming 
abyss. What, though the hundreds of thousands 
of the aged and feeble, the tender women, the 
helpless infants, were there, to unnerve the stout- 
est hearts in hours of danger and dismay. " Go 
forward," is the command ; falter not ; hesitate 
not ; delay not ; "go forward." 

You remember the result, my brethren. The 
people did go forward, though in fear and trem- 



144 " G0 forward r 

bling. The waters were divided, and were " a 
wall unto them on their right hand and on their 
left ;" they " walked upon dry land in the midst 
of the sea," through all the hours of that marvel- 
lous night ; and the Egyptians, furiously rushing 
after them, were swallowed up in the resistless 
flood. The Lord triumphed gloriously ; the 
horse and his rider did He throw into the sea. 
He " saved Israel that day out of the hands of 
the Egyptians ; and Israel saw the Egyptians 
dead upon the sea-shore. " 

II. I need not enlarge further upon this event- 
ful history, nor dwell upon the after progress of 
the children of Israel. I must rather beg of 
you, in accordance with w T hat I have all along 
had in view, to lay to heart the lesson, the one 
great lesson, which this portion of God's Word 
so forcibly urges upon our attention. 

To go forward in the Christian course is our 
ever present duty. To make advances is essen- 
tial to our spiritual life and health. We cannot, 
with safety, remain standing still. We cannot 
look backward, or halt in our course. Onward, 
ever onward, in the strait and narrow way, is as 
well our privilege as our duty. Difficulties will 



"GO FOR WARD r 

spring up in our path ; snares and hindrances 
will impede our progress ; slow and toilsome 
will often be our advancing steps ; and, at times, 
we shall be enclosed in, like the Jews of old 
were, by rugged rocks and mountain precipices 
on either hand ; by raging passions and lusts be- 
hind, eager to recover dominion over us ; while, 
in our very pathway itself, wherein we are conv 
manded to go forward, will be a deep and ter- 
rible sea, ready to engulf us in its destructive 
waters. Yet we must go forward ; and into the 
very deep, if need be, we must advance. The 
Lord's command is, look neither to the right, 
nor the left ; look not behind you ; fear not ; 
look right before you ; there lies your pathway, 
and there only. 

Here is an effectual touchstone of our faith. 
At such a time as this, is tested the reality of our 
obedience and submission to the will of God. 
Under the ordinary circumstances of the Chris- 
tian life, it seems not very difficult to walk quietly 
onward. There is not very much to afflict or 
try us ; there is not very much to affright or 
worry us ; and there is no very grievous temp- 
tation to cause us to waver or falter in our prog- 
7 



1 46 "'GO FORWARD" 

ress. We seem to be moving forward, in the 
direct road to the land of promised rest and 
peace. No fierce enemy assaults us ; no intri- 
cacies perplex us ; friends and brethren accom- 
pany and cheer us ; the sun of God's favor and 
goodness shines upon us; all appears to be bright 
and pleasant ; and we come to think that we 
shall be spared from wrestlings and fightings 
with the enemy of our souls. We forget that 
the " waste howling wilderness " lies between us 
and the haven of rest and peace. But, brethren, 
let the pathway toward Zion lead us forward 
right into the destroying flood. Let it be, that 
Ave see and know, that this is our way onward 
and upward ; that here w r e must go, even into 
the overwhelming waters of trouble and trial, 
of anguish and death ; and then will it be seen 
what we are in deed and in truth. If we can 
hear the voice of the Lord from heaven to us, as 
of old Moses did, " speak unto the people that 
they go forward ;" and if we can gird up our 
loins, and, in the confidence of faith and trust in 
Him, who is as willing as He is able to save, can 
march forward to the water's edge, ready to 
march into the waters themselves, if it be God's 



" go forward:' 

will, then shall we experience, in our own case, 
a miracle not less wonderful than the crossing 
of the Red Sea by Israel's host. Then, we shall 
see the waters divide ; we shall behold our path- 
way through the very midst of the sea ; we shall 
go dryshod through the very deep itself ; we 
shall not suffer harm or loss ; but we shall come 
off victors, the enemy vanquished, we safe, and 
God's might and majesty triumphant in the won- 
ders of redeeming grace. 

See what a lesson is here for us to learn ! The 
Christian pilgrim, who has escaped from the 
worse than Egyptian bondage of sin and its 
corruptions, must meet with trials and tribula- 
tions in his onward path towards the heavenly 
Jerusalem. Though these do not always come 
alike to the disciples of Christ ; though some are 
more severely tried and disciplined than others ; 
though some have unceasing contests with furi- 
ous enemies, who never give them respite from 
the battle ; while others have not so sharp a test 
applied to them, according as God sees what 
they need ; yet it is most important for us to 
remember, that all Christian people are tried ; 
all are disciplined, in some way or other. There 



148 u go forward:' 

will be, there must of necessity be something of 
a touchstone by which our faith and our obedience 
shall be proven, of what sort they are. We must 
all expect such a test to be applied to us. If it 
have not come already, we must gird ourselves 
to meet it ; and pray fervently, that we may meet 
it as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. Let it come, 
in the way of direct assault upon our integrity, 
our manliness, our consistency, our faithfulness 
to the truth, our devotion to the Saviour of our 
souls. Let it come, in the shape of appeals to 
our covetous desires, our ambition, our love of 
ease or pleasure, our pride of place and position 
in the world and the community. Let it come, 
in the depressing, disheartening effect of spirit- 
ual sloth and deadness in the Church, the cold- 
ness and apathy of our fellow Christians, the 
indifference and carelessness and practical infi- 
delity of all around us. Or, let it come in the 
sharper, more bitter form of losses and calami- 
ties ; in pain and sickness ; in disease and death. 
Yet, come it must, and it will be our wisdom to 
have learned the lesson, that we can " contend 
earnestly for the faith, " * and can overcome in 
* Jude 3. 



" go forward:' 

the battle, if we rely on His grace who gave His 
own life a ransom for our souls. 

Let us "go forward" then, brethren, steadily, 
earnestly, unfalteringly. Let us show forth to 
the world the high hopes, the lofty aims, the 
glorious triumphs of our most holy faith. The 
Angel of the Lord will, as He did of old, plant 
his pillar of cloud and of fire between us and our 
spiritual enemies ; He will afford light and peace 
to us, and send darkness and dismay to them. 
In the desert, through which we are passing, we 
shall still find the highway of the Lord. In the 
profoundest deeps of affliction and trial, we shall 
readily discover a dry and a safe path prepared 
for us, where our footsteps shall neither stumble 
nor slide. Cheerfully, confidently, let us make 
advances in the knowledge and love of our Sav- 
iour Christ. And let us continue, day by day, 
to go forward, from strength to strength, in full 
assurance that there is One who, when our heart 
and our flesh fail, will be, as He has lovingly 
promised to be, " the strength of our heart and 
our portion for ever." * 

* Psalm lxxiii. 26. 



XII. 



"WHAT THINK YE OF CHRIST?" 

St. Matthew xxii. 41, 42. 

" While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked 
them, saying, What think ye of Christ?" 

IT was within a few days of the close of our 
Lord's public ministry that He was, as usual, 
teaching in the temple. The Jews, of various 
classes, had attempted to embarrass Him with 
many and hard questions. The men in office 
and power, who had the chief control in eccle- 
siastical affairs, had demanded, by what author- 
ity the Master was teaching. The Pharisees and 
Herodians had tried to entangle Him, by asking 
an insidious question about the payment of trib- 
ute to Caesar. The Sadducees had made a spe- 
cial effort to hinder the progress of truth by an 
inquiry, as ignorant as it was frivolous, concern- 
(150) 



WHAT THINK YE OF CHRIST? r 5 x 

ing the resurrection. And one of the lawyers 
had endeavored to puzzle the Great Teacher, by 
asking Him to decide which was the greatest 
commandment in the law. But they had all fail- 
ed in accomplishing what they wished and ex- 
pected ; and so, vexed and disappointed, they 
were waiting some other opportunity to display 
their malice and envy against Him whom " the 
common people heard gladly." * 

The Saviour, however, that He might convict 
them out of their own mouths of their evil mo- 
tives, and that He might make clearly manifest 
the ignorance as well as hatred of His adver- 
saries, proposed a question to them, to which, 
with all their skill in logomachy, they were not 
able to find an answer. " While the Pharisees 
were gathered together, Jesus asked them, say- 
ing, What think ye of Christ?" What is your 
opinion concerning the Messiah ? It is a ques- 
tion of great moment to you ; for you are, you 
profess, not only the guides and instructors of 
the people, but are also in daily expectation of 
the coming of the promised Deliverer. Now, 
what is your judgment respecting Him ? What 

* St. Mark xii. 37. 



152 WHAT THIXK YE OF CHRIST? 

do you think is to be His office, His mission, His 
work, His life ? I ask you, because it is of the 
utmost importance to you, who claim to be the 
children of Abraham, and heirs of the promises 
made to him. I ask you, because you are bound 
to answer a question, which will show on what 
foundation you are building, in your notions of 
the Messiah, and which will prove to you wheth- 
er you are, or are not, in a state of ignorance and 
blindness and prejudice. Tell me, then, whose 
son is the Messiah to be ? Nothing, apparently, 
could be simpler or easier ; and the answer was 
instantly given ; Why, "the son of David," of 
course. Yes, the Saviour said, no doubt ; you 
are right, in part at least ; but there is a further 
question, which grows out of this, and I wish 
you to give me, if you can, a reply to it. The 
Messiah is David's son, beyond all cavil; but 
David, under the Holy Spirit's influence, speaks, 
in the book of Psalms, of Christ as not only his 
son, but as also his Lord, his God.* Now, how 
can this be ? how, in what sense, can a son be 
the Lord and Divine Master of one who is his 
own father ? 

* Psalm ex. i. 



WHAT THINK YE OF CHRIST? ^3 

The Jews, one and all, were astounded ; they 
could not reply to such a question ; " No man 
was able to answer Him a word/' says St. Mat- 
thew.* In their dull, materialistic, hardened 
schemes of interpretation ; in their strong, na- 
tional passion for a conquering prince, a mighty 
hero to lead them ; they thought only of the hu- 
man nature, when they thought of the Messiah ; 
they dwelt only on the promises of His coming 
as a redeemer or deliverer, that they might 
throw off the hated bondage of the heathen op- 
pressor; and they gloried in the prospect of 
Messiah's advent, as the builder up of a kingdom 
on earth, and the regenerator of the Jewish pride 
and power and magnificence. They ignored all 
the significant, repeated warnings and prophe- 
cies, in the Old Testament, of a Messiah who was 
to suffer, who was to be rejected and despised, 
who was even to die ; and it seemed impossible 
for them to rise above the low, carnal, earthly 
views of their day. They appear to have had no 
conception, or a very dim, vague one, of the 
divine nature of the Lord's Christ ; of the won- 
drous union of the two natures in the Son of 

* St. Matthew xxii. 46. 



154 WHAT THIXK YE OF CHRIST? 

David, who came to save us by His atoning sac- 
rifice on the cross ; of the mysterious but certain 
truth, that our Lord, though a man in all re- 
spects like unto us, sin only excepted, was and 
is also the very and eternal God. 

I have dwelt the longer upon the circum- 
stances and position of affairs, under which our 
Lord proposed the question in the text, because 
I wish to show, that substantially the same kind 
of opposition and hostility, which the Jews man- 
ifested, and which prevented their embracing 
the truth, operates now, in our days, with even 
increased fulness and force. There is the same 
unwillingness to acknowledge and yield to the 
authority of the Bible in all its teachings. There 
is the same effort made to divide into portions 
the Word of God, to cut it up, as it were, into 
separate pieces, and to choose that which is 
agreeable and reject that which is not according 
to fancy or preconceived notions. There is the 
same materializing spirit; the same disposition 
to banish the supernatural, divine element in re- 
ligion ; the same persistent effort to bring down 
the Holy Scriptures from their high standard, in 
order to suit the debasing but popular ideas of 



WHAT THIXK YE OF CHRIST? ^5 

very many in these days ; and especially is there 
the same determination to degrade, if possible, 
the Blessed Saviour, and, under cover of speak- 
ing well of Him as a man, to rob Him of His 
essential Deity as " God manifest in the flesh." * 
Now, I think it is evident to all careful observ- 
ers, that, in these times of upheavings of moral 
and religious, as well as political and social 
things, every man, who is resolved upon being 
an intelligent, honest Christian, must have a clear, 
settled conviction as to who and what the Sa- 
viour of mankind really is. The question, " What 
think ye of Christ ?" is as necessary to be an- 
swered by him, in its applicability to himself, as 
it was by the Jews of old. It is a very sugges- 
tive question, and will enable him, by its com- 
prehensiveness, to test, in great measure, the 
soundness of the reasons which govern him in 
his daily life, and to give a reply, such as be- 
comes him, to those who would know, why he 
is a Christian and not an infidel, why he believes 
in Christ for this world as well as the next. This 
question, in the fulness of meaning which it pos- 
sesses, must be answered ; and till it is, there can 

* 1 Timothy iii. 16, 



156 WHAT THINK YE OF CHRIST? 

be no positive rest, and no real strength for any 
man's soul. If a man sets out in the race of life, 
as so many do, without knowing whether Christ 
is, or is not, his guide and support ; if he at- 
tempts to pursue his pathway through life, with- 
out knowing whether or not the Master is his 
reliance, the basis of all his hopes, the founda- 
tion-stone of all his principles, be sure, brethren, 
he will have no consistency or completeness of 
religious character, and he will certainly fail of 
attaining the highest end and aim of human ex- 
istence. 

Believe me, that, in saying this, I say nothing 
new or strange ; for every thing, in fact, in re- 
gard to a man's soul, centres in the Person of 
Christ. All true religion takes its life from Him. 
All true religion has Him for its object, looks to 
Him only as the source of its life, relies upon 
Him and His atonement only as the ground of 
its hope and confidence in the mercy of God. 
The fiercest assaults of ancient heresy were di- 
rected against the true doctrine of Holy Scrip- 
ture in regard to our Saviour's Person, and the 
severest struggle which the Church, in olden 
times, went through with, was to maintain the 



WHAT THINK YE OF CHRIST? 

faith as to the essential Deity and manhood com- 
bined of our Lord Jesus Christ. The efforts of 
modern heresy and false doctrine are of the same 
description as those of early days ; and if the 
adversary of truth can but undermine the trust 
of God's people in those words of heavenly ori- 
gin, which we are privileged to utter in the 
Creed, every time we assemble in this house to 
worship Him, then he knows full well, that the 
fabric of Christian verity must totter to its foun- 
dation, and must incur the risk of crumbling and 
falling into ruin. Reason and Philosophy have 
vainly proposed doubts and difficulties, in order 
to overthrow " the faith once delivered to the 
saints,"* and to lead men to deny that the Son of 
God is of one substance with the Father, that 
He is very God as well as very man.f And 
enthusiasm and fanaticism have likewise endea- 
vored, each in its way, to bring Christian people 
to adopt other views of truth, and put their reli- 
ance upon other teaching than that which the 
Scriptures set forth, and which the Church in 
her integrity has always steadfastly maintained. 
But, blessed be God, who will not suffer His 

* Jude 3. f See Article II. of the Thii^-nine Articles. 



158 WHAT THINK YE OF CHRIST? 

truth to fail or perish in the world,* there is a 
consciousness, never wholly lost, and which 
grows deeper and deeper among God's faithful 
people, as the conflict becomes severer, and the 
field of assault is enlarged, — there is a conscious- 
ness, I say, that this is the truth which we must 
fight for, even to the death, viz., that Jesus Christ 
Himself is the chief corner-stone on which the 
Church of God is built ; and if any man comes 
to us with a teaching which does not place Him 
before us, as I have just declared Him to be out 
of God's Holy Word, we must refuse to listen ; 
we must shut our eyes and close our ears ; we 
must not have a moment's parleying with the 
traitor and rebel against the Great Captain of 
our salvation. 

If, now, brethren, you have gone w T ith me in 
what I have been trying to place before you, you 
will have no difficulty, I think, in seeing the ap- 
plication which I wish to make of the whole mat- 
ter to our own selves. The question of the text, 
I repeat it, is one of great significance, and has 
its direct point and meaning for us, as well as for 
the Pharisees of our Saviour's day. We must 

- Psalm Ixxxix. 33. 



WHAT THINK YE OF CHRIST? i$g 

meet the question, fairly and honestly, as becomes 
men who know what vast interests are at stake. 
We must have good and sufficient reasons for 
believing in and clinging to Christ, as the Divine 
Redeemer of our race. We must beware of the 
spirit of unbelief which deluded the Pharisees 
and haters of the Lord Jesus to their ruin ; and 
if God is pleased to reveal His truth unto us, as 
it is recorded in Holy Scripture, we must re- 
ceive it in childlike faith and confidence. 

In days like these, when wild speculation and 
unbridled self-will are rife in the community ; in 
the times in which we live, when Christian ver- 
ity is assaulted in the Church of God itself,* and 
they who ought to be its defenders are traitors 
to their solemn vows and pledges ; we must nerve 
ourselves, as St. Paul exhorts us, against the 
wiles of the devil, against principalities, against 
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this 
world, against the host of evil spirits all around 
and about us.f We know indeed that our faith 
is based upon the Rock of Ages, which can never 
be moved. We know that the closest scrutiny, 

* Reference is here intended to such men as Colenso, the writ- 
ers of the " Essays and Reviews," etc. 

t Ephesians vi. n, 12. 



l6o WHAT THINK YE OF CHRIST? 

and the most careful patient searching, serve only 
to bring out into brighter, clearer light the truth 
of the Gospel of Christ, and to make manifest 
that it alone can satisfy the cravings of the im- 
mortal soul for time and for eternity ; but we 
must not, on that account, think that we can lay 
aside our armor. We must not give way to wea- 
riness and faintness in our minds in running the 
race that is set before us,* when we consider 
what rebellion and contradiction of sinners against 
Himself our Lord was willing to endure for our 
sakes. 

No, brethren, as we grow in the Christian life, 
the question w r ill ever be coming home to us, Is 
Christ our Master? Is He the One whom we 
obey implicitly, unreservedly ? Do we put our 
trust in Him for knowledge of the truth, for ac- 
cess to God, for support in death, for never-end- 
ing life ? Is He our Saviour, whose blood alone 
cleanseth from all sin ?f Is He our King, now in 
heaven, as able as He is willing to uphold and 
preserve His people, at all times and in all 
places? Do we look for Him to come again, in 
His own good time, to judge both the quick and 

* Hebrews xii. 3. \ 1 St. John i. 7. 



WHAT THINK YE OF CHRIST? x 6i 

the dead ? And do we know that He will then 
make manifest, before the assembled myriads of 
His creatures, His justice as well as His good- 
ness, His infinite love and compassion as well as 
the truth and exactness of his judgments? 

Ye careless ones, take warning to yourselves ; 
for, if the Master were this day to stand here in 
our midst, what answer could ye give him ? 
What could ye say, if the question were asked 
of you, On what foundation are ye relying ? 
What is your hope ? What is to save you from 
the engulfing waters of misery and ruin ? Where 
are ye to flee from the storm of wrath * and right- 
eous indignation, which will ere long sweep 
away sin and corruption from off the face of the 
earth ? 

And as for you, ye faithful ones, who have 
sought and known your Lord, continue ye 
steadfast in the faith. Be not easily discouraged. 
The Master is ever nigh at hand, and ever 
watches over those who put their whole trust and 
confidence in His mercy. And take this pas- 
sage out of the prophet, as precious food for 
meditation in the house of your pilgrimage ; — 
" They that feared the Lord spake often one to 



1 62 WHAT THINK YE OF CHRIST? 

another ; and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, 
and a book of remembrance was written before 
Him for them that feared the Lord, and that 
thought upon His name. And they shall be 
mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when 
I make up my jewels ; and I will spare them, as 
a man spareth his own son that serveth hirn 8 * 

* Malachi iii. 16, 17. 



XIII. 



SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD IN ACTS OF 



" But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the 
days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six 
months, when great famine was throughout all the land ; but 
unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of 
Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow." 



UR Blessed Lord passed a large part of his 



life, while here upon earth, in the obscure 
town of Nazareth. It was there that He remain- 
ed, year after year, in patient, meek submission 
to the every command of His mother, and of 
Joseph His reputed father, uncomplainingly 
working with His hands at the trade of a car- 
penter, and waiting, quietly yet earnestly, for the 
period to arrive when He should enter upon His 
public ministry as the Messiah of God. That 



GRACE. 



St. Luke iv. 25, 26. 




(163) 



1 64 GOD'S SO VEREIGNT Y IN GRA CE. 

period arrived when He was about thirty years 
old, at which time He left Nazareth ; He went 
and was baptized in the Jordan by John the Bap- 
tist ; the Holy Ghost descended upon Him, in a 
bodily shape like a dove ; He was led into the 
wilderness to be tempted of the devil ; He over- 
came the arch-enemy of souls ; and, returning 
into Galilee, " He taught in their synagogues, 
being glorified of all." It was at this time, in 
the very beginning of his ministry, that He came 
to Nazareth where He had been brought up, and 
where His kinsmen and friends, and all who for 
so many years had seen Him and known Him, 
were impatiently waiting for His coming. With 
mingled feelings and hopes were they expecting 
Him ; His fame had already gone through all 
the neighboring region ; and they looked for 
Him to make His appearance among them speed- 
ily, and meet the claim which they held that they 
had for the fullest and most satisfactory display 
of his miraculous power and wisdom of speech. 

As was our Lord's custom, it being the Sab- 
bath-day, he went into the synagogue or place 
of public worship, where prayers were offered, 
and the Scriptures of the Old Testament were 



GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY IN GRACE. ^ 

read and expounded. Having been invited on 
this occasion by the ruler of the synagogue, our 
Lord stood up for to read ; and when He had 
received the roll of the prophet Esaias, He read 
in the ears of the assembled congregation these 
words, being probably the lesson appointed for 
the day : " The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, 
because He hath anointed me to preach the 
Gospel to the poor ; He hath sent me to heal 
the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the 
captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to 
set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach 
the acceptable year of the Lord." He then re- 
turned the roll to the minister who had given it 
to Him and sat down, as was the practice of 
those who expounded the Scriptures to the 
people. 

This passage of Holy Writ was a distinct 
declaration of the office of the Messiah, whom 
we are told, all men were waiting for, and daily 
expecting to come in power and majesty. So 
striking were the words of the prophet, as thus 
and then read, that the eyes of all them that 
were in the synagogue were fastened on Him, 
in wonder and astonishment. Is not this Joseph's 



1 66 GOD'S SOVEREIGXTY IN GRACE. 

son ? are not His mother and His brethren here 
with us ? they said, one to another. What is all 
this which we see and hear? Can it be that 
this One is indeed the Anointed of God ? Gra- 
cious, and yet sharp and powerful as a two- 
edged sword, were our Lord's words when He 
began to expound the Scriptures unto them, by 
declaring, " this day is this Scripture fulfilled in 
your ears." This day do I come to you with 
authority to proclaim unto you the glad tidings 
of salvation through the mercy of God by faith 
in Me. 

Incredulous, and full of prejudice, because of 
the obscurity and apparent insignificance of our 
Saviour while in Nazareth, they were unwilling 
to receive Him in this His high capacity : they 
would not acknowledge that He was indeed 
that Messiah whom they were expecting. Our 
Lord clearly perceived this, and in consequence 
took occasion, in his discourse, to set before 
them the unreasonableness and folly of such a 
demand as that which they were making, when 
they required that He should do among them 
miracles and wonders fully equal in greatness 
and majesty to those which, it was reported, He 



GOD'S SO VEREIGNT V IN GRA CE. x 67 

had done in Capernaum. " Verily I say unto 
you, no prophet is accepted in his own coun- 
try." Your envy and jealousy, your pride, and 
conceit, and prejudice, will allow Me no oppor- 
tunity of working miracles among you ; and even 
were I to work them here, your hearts would be 
unbelieving still. Observe, too, that you have 
no claim of right to the exercise, in your favor, 
of miraculous displays of mercy and goodness ; 
for, remember that, as in all time past, even so 
now, God dispenses or withholds His blessings, 
when and where He w r ill. What is the teaching 
of Holy Scripture ? Listen, and mark it well : 
" I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Is- 
rael in the days of Elias, when the heaven was 
shut up three years and six months, when great 
famine was throughout all the land ; but unto 
none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, 
a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. 
And many lepers were in Israel in the time of 
Eliseus the prophet ; and none of them was 
cleansed saving Naaman the Syrian. " Do not 
ye, then, presume that, because ye are my neigh- 
bors and townsmen, ye can demand mercies and 
favors at my hands as your right. Do not ven- 



1 68 GOD'S SOVEREIGXTY TN GRACE. 



ture to make light of, or reject, my message, lest 
God take away His grace and mercy, which ye 
might obtain by penitence and faith, and send it 
unto strangers, yea, even unto the Gentiles. 

So unpalatable was this teaching, and yet so 
pointed and forcible was its application to those 
who listened to our Lord's words, that, filled 
with rage, they at once broke up the assembly 
in a tumult, and not only thrust our Saviour out 
of the synagogue, but madly endeavored to cast 
Him down headlong from the brow of the hill 
whereon Nazareth stood : but His hour was not 
yet come ; and so, passing through the midst of 
the furious crowd, He left them to reap the 
consequence of their brutish folly and base in- 
gratitude. 

In such wise did our Lord address the carping 
and fault-finding people in the synagogue of 
Nazareth, both rebuking their ignorance of Holy 
Scripture, condemning their hard and intolerant 
spirit, and setting before them truths of the ut- 
most importance for them to learn. The lesson 
which the Redeemer then taught is well worth}" 
the attention of Christ's disciples in these days ; 
and to it I invite your present attention, with 



GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY IN GRACE. i£g 

the prayer that God's Holy Spirit will enable 
both you and me to profit by it. 

I. Mark well, then, in the first place, how posi- 
tively our Saviour declares the sovereignty of 
God in dispensing His blessings of grace and 
privilege. There were many widows in Israel ; 
many widows who were members of the Church 
and household of God ; many who were in cove- 
nant with Him, and had a covenant claim to His 
favors ; many who worshipped and served Him, 
and prayed to Him, and besought His mercy in 
that grievous time of famine, when the heaven 
was shut up three years and six months ; but 
unto no one of these did God send His prophet ; 
unto no one of these did He afford relief and 
consolation by His commissioned messenger. 
He passed by all the widows in Israel; and sent 
Elijah unto a poor widow living in Sarepta, or 
Zarephath, a city of Sidon, a widow among the 
Gentiles, who could lay no claim whatever to 
such blessings as were promised to the children 
of Abraham. 

There were, too, many lepers in Israel in the 
time of Elisha the prophet ; many afflicted ones 
among God's people ; many who cried aloud 
S 



1 70 GOD'S SO VE REIGN T Y IN GRA CE. 

unto the Lord for relief from this terrible dis- 
ease ; but it did not please God to cleanse any 
of these, at that time ; it did not please Him to 
stretch forth His hand and restore the lepers 
in Israel. No ; only Naaman the Syrian was 
cleansed ; only the captain of Syria's host re- 
ceived mercy and relief ; only that one, that Gen- 
tile, who was not of Israel, and who had no cove- 
nant claim to mercy and grace from the God of 
Israel. 

Thus did the Lord give, and thus did He with- 
hold, in the olden time. Thus does He continue 
to give, or to withhold, as it seemeth to Him 
good. And who is there that shall venture to 
say unto Him, what doest Thou ? Who shall 
dare to question that infinite wisdom which dis- 
penses mercies, or withholds mercies, as God 
pleaseth? Who shall have the hardihood to say 
that the Judge of all the earth doeth not right, 
when His dispensations of good and evil are be- 
stowed wheresoever He chooses to bestow them ? 

II. Observe, in the second place, how true the 
principle of the text is, in its application to our 
case and the Church in our day. It is no un- 
common thing for persons among us to suppose, 



GOD'S SO VEREIGN T Y IN GRA CE. x 7 x 

that we are entitled to the first and choicest bless- 
ings at the hand of God. We are His baptized 
children, we say. We, like the men of Nazareth, 
think that we can claim the Saviour as specially 
belonging to us„ We have eaten and drunk in 
His presence, and He has taught in our streets.* 
His special acts of grace are ours by right ; and 
if God bestow them not upon us, who are in the 
covenant, surely, we think, He cannot bestow 
them upon those who are out of the covenant. 
We are the children, and the children's bread 
belongs to us ; it is not meet to cast it unto the 
dogs. Many among us seem to think, that God's 
mercy and goodness are tied down to certain 
fixed rules and limits; and that He cannot go 
beyond them, and cannot act otherwise than in 
the one way which we think He ought to act. 

But, my brethren, such is not the teaching of 
the text ; such is not the teaching of any part of 
God's Word ; such is not the testimony of history 
and experience. For, though it is true, and a 
very consoling and precious truth, that our recon- 
ciled Father in heaven covenants to us, through 
His Son, certain blessings and privileges, if we 

* St. Luke xiii. 26. 



1 72 GOD'S SO VEREIGNT Y IN GRA CE. 

believe and obey Him, yet He is not thereby 
bound and excluded from bestowing mercy and 
favor upon others of our race. " Is He the God 
of the Jews only ? Is He not also of the Gen- 
tiles ? Yes, (says St. Paul,) of the Gentiles also." * 
His arm is not shortened. His power and wis- 
dom are not limited. His providence is not re- 
stricted to a few. He watches over millions in 
all lands, whom He has created and who must 
render an account to Him, at the last day, as well 
as we. He judgeth and condemneth. He put- 
teth down one, and setteth up another. He re- 
wardeth and punisheth. He sends peace and 
plenty, or the sword, and famine, and pestilence. 
He restrains and guides. He puts a hook into 
the nose of leviathan power and lawlessness ; and 
says unto it, thus far and no farther. He pro- 
tects the upright and just. He hears the cry of 
the down-trodden and oppressed, and relieves 
them in His good time. And all this, and every 
thing like this, He does, not simply among us, 
but in every corner of the habitable globe. 

The people of Nazareth, like the rest of the 
Jews, looked upon themselves with great self- 

* Romans iii. 29. 



GOD' S SO VEREIGNT Y IN GRA CE. x 73 

complacency, as having a right to every thing 
which God could bestow upon his children. 
Abraham was their father ; the promises were to 
him and his children ; and any such idea or opin- 
ion as that the heathen, Gentile outcasts were of 
any moment in the sight of God, never entered 
their minds, or if it did, it was repelled at once. 
The people of Nazareth, too, had seen and known 
our Saviour, as living in their midst for about 
thirty years. He was poor, and in very humble 
circumstances. His family were poor. He never 
frequented the schools of the rabbis, or had any 
note among the learned and distinguished of that 
day. Daily labor was His lot ; and He submit- 
ted to it without a murmur. When, in due time, 
our Lord entered upon His public ministry, and, 
to the astonishment of all His neighbors in Naza- 
reth, avouched His Messiahship by miracles and 
acts of grace and mercy, in various places of 
Galilee, immediately they set up a claim to see 
and know, themselves, to the full, every miracle 
and wonder which our Lord had wrought in Ca- 
pernaum, or any where else ; and if their claim 
was not met, they let it be understood, that they, 
at least, should not believe His mission and obey 



1 74 GOD'S SO V E REIGN TY IX GRA CE. 

His commands. But our Saviour told them 
plainly, that they had no grounds whatever for 
making such demands upon Him. He would not 
bestow favors of any sort in answer to calls of 
pride, conceit or self-importance, as if He were 
under obligations to them in this matter. He 
was not bound to work miracles there purely to 
gratify them, or their morbid craving to see 
"signs and wonders." He was not bound to 
work them there at all ; and, as St. Matthew and 
St. Mark tell us, He did not, and could not, do 
any mighty work there, because of their unbe- 
lief,* because they possessed neither faith, hu- 
mility, and penitence, nor honest and good hearts, 
ready and willing to hear and believe the truth. 

Just so is it now, brethren. The Saviour is 
not to be dictated to, by men who want to make 
terms with Him for their obedience. He will 
not listen to those who say, with the Nazareans, 
do this, or do that, and we will yield unto you ; 
who demand "a sign," or " a wonder," or some 
striking display of divine power ; and Avho ex- 
claim, show us here, and now, these marvels of 
truth and majesty, and we will follow Thee with- 

* St. Matthew xiii. 58 ; St. Mark vi. 5, 6. 



GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY IN GRACE. 

out delay. To no such vain and presumptuous 
pleas will our Lord pay any regard. No man can 
demand of Him mercies and favors. No man, 
unless he can keep the whole law, without sin in 
thought, word, or deed, can demand as his right 
blessings from God. No man can have any hope 
of mercy, except through the unmerited and free 
love and goodness of God, in and through Christ. 
His people must beseech Him, day and night, to 
hear their supplications and prayers. His peo- 
ple must call upon Him continually, to send them 
what they need, as He shall see best for them. 
His people must not murmur, as if He did not 
give them what they desired, and bestowed it 
elsewhere. And if they find that His Spirit is 
not shed abroad upon them, as they wish and 
pray for, the fault, be sure, is theirs ; there is 
coldness, or self-delusion, or deceit, or unbelief, 
or worldliness, or sin of some sort among them ; 
and they must pray more earnestly, and get them 
to the foot of the cross more diligently, so that 
the Lord may bless them indeed. 

Ask humbly, then, my brethren, ask patiently, 
with an entire consciousness that every thing 
you ask for is purely of grace and mercy, free, 



1 76 GOD'S SO VEREIGNTY IN GRA CE. 

abounding grace and mercy, which are bestowed 
wheresoever it pleases God to bestow them. Do 
not suppose, for a moment, that your position in 
the world, your wealth, your consequence in the 
eyes of men, your talents, your activity, your 
energy, or any thing of the sort, entitle you to 
favor ; nor, on the other hand, that your insignifi- 
cance, poverty, ignorance, want of consequence, 
or any thing of that kind, disentitle you to God's 
mercy and goodness. Let not large and flour- 
ishing churches and congregations claim merit 
for themselves, or their position, as if God were 
compelled to work His wonders, and shower 
down upon them His favors, because they have 
done what they have for the cause of truth and 
godliness ; nor let feeble churches, and mere 
handsful of people despond, for God's special acts 
of grace are sent quite as freely and as fully to 
them as to others. And finally, let it be our con- 
stant effort to seek the favor of God our Saviour 
in the way of His appointment, by penitence, 
faith, humility, patient waiting for His good 
time, when it may please Him to answer our 
earnest supplications for grace, mercy, and eter- 
nal life. 



XIV. 



THE WHEAT AND THE TARES. 



St, Matthew xiii. 30. 



u Let both grow together until the harvest ; and in the time of 
harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the 
tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them ; but gather the 
wheat into my barn." 



T was our Lord's custom, brethren, as you 



know, to convey a large part of His pub- 
lic teaching by means of parables. This was a 
mode of giving instruction, not only admirably 
adapted to the people of that age and country, 
but also well calculated to edify the people of all 
ages and all lands. Parables, it may be noted, 
differ essentially from fables or proverbs, in hav- 
ing a higher aim and purpose in view, in being 
devoted to spiritual, heavenly things, and in re- 
quiring, ofttimes, much care and study fully to 
comprehend their meaning. Fables deal with 




(177) 



1 78 THE WHEA T AXD THE TARES. 

earthly matters, and by attributing to beasts, 
birds, trees, and the like, the power of reasoning, 
speaking, and acting, they set forth some lesson 
of shrewdness and worldly wisdom, or enforce 
some maxim of every-day morality. Proverbs 
are terse, pointed sayings, frequently easy to un- 
derstand, and appealing in the fewest possible 
words to the results of men's sagacity and expe- 
rience. Parables, on the other hand, are usually 
draw 7 n out more fully, by means of a narra- 
tive or story, which, however, never violates 
nature and reality, as fables do ; and they also 
involve a comparison, or likeness, which is in- 
tended to illustrate and prove certain great and 
important truths in the spiritual training and life 
of men. Parables are not always easy to under- 
stand. Some of them are so expressed as to 
render it hard for any other than the diligent, 
earnest, pure-minded, to arrive at their meaning 
and force ; but, in general, our Lord's parables 
are such as sincere Christians are not only ena- 
bled to understand, but also love to study, and 
to draw from them large measures of instruction 
and comfort. 

At the beginning of our Saviour's public min- 



THE WHEAT AND THE TARES. ijg 

istry, He taught the people, " not as the scribes,' , 
but simply and plainly, in words of divine com- 
passion and love. Multitudes flocked to hear 
Him, and drank in, from His sacred lips, the 
marvellous goodness and mercy of God, and the 
higher, nobler aims which become those who 
would truly be His children. But ere long, un- 
belief, hardness of heart, and scornful perversion 
of the Lord's words, manifested themselves, as 
well as dullness, and spiritual deadness ; and so, 
the Great Teacher, instead of continuing to in- 
struct them, as He had done in the Sermon on 
the Mount, now made use of parables. His dis- 
ciples were astonished, as is noted in this same 
chapter whence my text is taken, and asked Him 
why He did thus. His answer was, that the 
Kingdom of Heaven has in it mysteries and 
truths, which the humble and diligent hearer 
alone can know aright, and which he will rarely 
if ever fail to know, by the Master's help ; and 
that the mass of those who see and hear, with 
their outward eyes and ears, do not, because 
they will not, understand the heavenly truths 
wrapped up in the parable. For, in this way, 
by this mode of teaching, He was able effectually 



l8o THE WHEAT AXD THE TARES. 

to test the characters of men, and their willing- 
ness to learn, or their willingness to continue in 
ignorance and blindness. In this way, too, it 
was shown, that they who loved darkness would 
be allowed to remain in their darkness, and that 
new light would be furnished to all who desired 
and strived to reach the brightness and purity 
of the Messiah's kingdom. 

But, not to dwell upon the general subject of 
parables, and their efficiency, as used by our 
Lord, let us examine briefly, this morning, the 
one from which I have quoted the concluding 
verse. The parable of the Wheat and the Tares 
is the second in number of those which our Sa- 
viour " put forth " for His hearers' instruction, 
and it has the special advantage over nearly all 
the others, in that the Master Himself, when the 
multitudes had gone away to their homes, gave 
His disciples an explanation of its meaning and 
force. In substance, as you remember, the par- 
able is this : — a large field is sown with wheat by 
the owner's direction ; but, taking advantage of 
the night season, a malicious and spiteful enemy 
sows tares in the same field. Afterwards, along 
with the wheat spring up the tares. This is so 



THE WHEAT AXD THE TARES. jgl 

surprising, to find tares mingled with the wheat, 
that the servants ask, wonderingly, Whence did 
they come ? and, in their zeal, inquire, if they 
shall not root them out at once. But the owner, 
knowing the difficulty, and the risk of ruining 
the wheat, which would be produced by such a 
course, says, No, not now ; u let both grow togeth- 
er until the harvest ; and in the time of harvest I 
will say to the reapers, gather ye together first 
the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn 
them : but gather the wheat into my barn." 

Now, the lesson taught by this parable is after- 
wards, as I have just said, given by our Lord 
Himself. The field, in which the Blessed Saviour 
has sown the good seed, is the world, wherein we 
live, and to all the inhabitants of which the Gos- 
pel has been, or is to be, preached. The good seed 
are the faithful, obedient children of God in His 
kingdom in the world ; while the tares are the 
hypocritical, wicked ones, who have become so 
by the devil's enticement, and who, though out- 
wardly they may appear to resemble the true 
followers of Christ, are really the servants of the 
enemy of souls. By the harvest is meant, the final 
consummation of all things, when we shall all, 



182 



THE WHEAT AND THE TARES. 



both small and great, stand to be judged by Him 
who knoweth the secrets of all hearts, according 
as we have done good or done evil. The angels 
are the reapers, whom the Judge will employ on 
that dread occasion. As the tares, in the para- 
ble, are gathered and burnt in the fire, so shall it 
be at the end of the world. The Lord shall send 
forth the angelic reapers, and they shall first 
gather together, out of that vast assemblage, all 
the workers of iniquity, who are to have their 
place in the never-ending fire of perdition. Then 
shall the righteous and accepted ones in Christ, 
they who have loved Him and served Him in 
penitence, faith and charity, — then shall they 
shine forth like the sun, in his noon-tide glory, 
and ever be with the Lord in perfect peace and 

I might enlarge upon the various and interest- 
ing lessons set before us in our Lord's explanation 
of this parable ; but the time now at my com- 
mand would hardly be sufficient. I shall, there- 
fore, ask only that you give good heed to the 
special admonition and warning contained in the 
text, and strive to see how deeply you are con- 
cerned in its teaching. 



THE WHEAT AXD THE TARES. jgj 

Observe, then, I pray you, that, in the carrying 
out of the great mission of love and mercy- to the 
world, the Gospel is, or is to be, preached to 
every creature. All of us, in Christian lands, 
certainly have the offer of salvation made unto 
us, and all who will can take of the water of 
life freely. Every one who believes and is bap- 
tized, becomes a member of the Church of Christ, 
and professes himself to be a soldier and servant 
of the Master unto his life's end. If every one 
in the Church were what he ought to be, hum- 
ble, faithful, abounding in good works, then the 
"good seed," — the true, spiritual children of 
God — would be the only ones in the Church, and 
it would be indeed what the Lord would have 
it, "a glorious Church, not having spot or wrin- 
kle, or any such thing ; holy and without blem- 
ish." * But, as experience has shown from the 
beginning, the wicked one, the devil, the enemy 
of all good, has been at work, and has sowed 
tares in the field, wherever he could. He has 
deluded and perverted those whom he was able 
to bring under his temptations. He has, in his 
malignity, made hypocrites of men, made them 

* Ephesians v. 27. 



1 84 THE WHEAT A XD THE TARES. 

covetous, selfish, lovers of pleasure more than 
lovers of God, having a form of godliness without 
the power thereof. Thus has the devil done ever 
since our Lord proclaimed the good news of sal- 
vation through faith in His blood ; and in conse- 
quence of this, God has seen fit to permit the 
evil to be mingled with the good in His Church. 
He has allowed the unfaithful, the merely nomi- 
nal servants of His, to grow together in the field 
with the faithful and loving children. And more 
than this, He has taught us, by this parable, that 
so it will be unto the end, — until the harvest, at 
the day of judgment. 

No positive or exact separation of the offensive 
and unholy things from the good, and the pure, 
and the true, in the Church, will be made during 
the time of probation of our race. So long as 
the Church continues to be militant ; so long as 
there is a never-ceasing warfare to be carried on 
against sin, the world and the devil ; just so long 
will the evil find place among the good ; the 
evil will at times flourish and grow great and 
lofty ; and, as God alone can see the heart, the 
certainty of being able to discriminate between 
one man and another, or to pronounce positively 



THE WHEAT AXD THE TARES. jgg 

upon this one's or that one's spiritual condition, 
in the sight of the Searcher of hearts, will never, 
can never be attained by any of Christ's servants, 
however great their skill, however great their 
advancement in the Christian life. " Let both 
grow together until the harvest," is the Master's 
decision ; and with this His people may well be 
content. 

We need not then, brethren, be perplexed, or 
distressed with doubts and fears, because we find 
the tares among the wheat. We need not in- 
quire, in a tone of wonder and complaint, as if 
the Lord did not know how best to carry out His 
own plan for the salvation of His people ; we 
need not ask, whence are the tares ? The fact is 
too evident to be overlooked. The history of 
the Church in all ages shows, too plainly, that 
the tares abound. The scorner and unbeliever 
are only too ready to point to this fact, as a 
shame and disgrace to the Christian name. 

Go where you please in the Church, take what 
congregation you choose, and note its spiritual 
condition, as it appears to your limited and im- 
perfect judgment ; and what do you see ? Are 
all, there, the servants of the Master ? Are all 



1 86 THE WHEAT AND THE TARES. 

obedient, humble, patient, loving children of the 
Saviour of souls? Is it a congregation of which 
it can be said, that it is a " holy congregation," 
without spot or blemish ? Are all baptized ? all 
who are of sufficient age confirmed ? all commu- 
nicants ? all full of good works ? all walking wor- 
thy of the vocation wherewith they are called ? 
all lights in the world, so that men glorify God 
on their account ? Alas, brethren, why need I ask 
the question ? You know to the contrary. You 
know, as well as I, that it is not so ; and that hy- 
pocrisy, covetousness, and idolatrous love of 
money exist, more or less widely, in every con- 
gregation, and defile the fair robes of the bride 
of Christ, our Lord and our God. 

Happily for me, and for all who serve at the 
altar, it is not given to us to undertake to root 
out entirely, and to cut off from access to the 
means of grace, all those who are unfaithful, or 
disobedient, or making a fair show before men, 
while their hearts are in the bonds of sin and 
Satan. I say, that it is well that it is so ; for / 
cannot tell with certainty which of you are what 
you ought to be. It is not in my power to see 
at all into any of your hearts. There are tares, 



THE WHEAT AND THE TARES. Y %j 

here, no doubt, among the wheat. There are — 
I cannot resist the conviction — bad as well as 
good who gather in this house. While gross and 
scandalous violators of God's law are not here, 
still there are, I fear, some who have only the 
outside of religion, without the life and power 
thereof. And, following the example which has 
been set, on various occasions, in the history of 
the Church, I might join with my brethren in 
the ministry, to strive to root up the tares, and 
by severity of discipline to cut off all offenders 
from all place of repentance and amendment. 
But, though I deeply deplore the lack of spirit- 
ual vigor and earnestness in this parish, I dare 
not violate my solemn vow and pledge. I dare 
not do less than labor on, in striving to set the 
truth before you and to urge it upon you. I am 
content to bow submissively to the Lord's dec- 
laration, "let both grow together until the 
harvest." 

One word of w-arning must yet be given. Let 
not that man, who fails in his duty to his Master, 
delude himself with the lying imagination, that 
he will finally escape from retribution at the 
hands of Almighty God. He may, possibly, go 



i88 



THE WHEAT A XD THE TARES. 



through the world without being arrested in his 
downward career ; he may even pass for one of 
the good seed in the heavenly kingdom. But 
the end is not far off. The Lord here and now 
suffers the tares to grow w r ith the wheat ; yet at 
the last He w T ill send His angels to gather the 
one into bundles to burn them, while He will 
gather His wheat into the barn, for ever and 
ever. 



XV. 



NEED OF OPEN CONFESSION OF 



"Among the chief rulers also many believed on Him : but be- 
cause of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should 
be put out of the synagogue. " 

"T~T was the last week in our Lord's ministry 



-L that St. John speaks of, in this and the fol- 
lowing chapters. The Gracious Redeemer had 
done many, very many of His mighty works. 
He had healed the sick, cleansed the lepers, 
opened the eyes of the blind, raised Lazarus from 
the dead, and entered Jerusalem in triumph 
amid the gladsome shouts of the people. He 
had given utterance to words of wisdom, expos- 
tulation, and warning, so that even His enemies 
confessed, that " never man spake like this man." 
He had prophesied, in the plainest terms, of His 



CHRIST. 



St. John xii. 42. 




(.89) 



I go OPEN CONFESSION OF CHRIST. 

sufferings, the cruel tortures and shameful out- 
rage He was to endure, and the ignominious 
death He was to pass through. He had con- 
founded all the cunning and skill of the Pharisees 
and Sadducees ; and so sternly, and with so 
much of holy indignation, had he laid bare their 
corruption, and hypocrisy, and envy, and malice, 
that they determined at any cost to take His life, 
and by the strong hand of power to crush Him 
and His disciples utterly out of existence. 

But though He had done all these things ; 
though His miracles were beyond measure 
astonishing and convincing ; though His teach- 
ing was searching and penetrating to the very 
marrow, and full of the power and wisdom of 
God ; though His daily life and conduct over- 
flowed with love and compassion and tenderness 
towards sinners ; yet, with horrible obstinacy 
and active unappeasable hatred, the mass of the 
leading men of the day and their followers re- 
fused to accredit the Lord's messiahship ; they 
wilfully shut their eyes, and hardened their 
hearts, (as the prophet Isaiah had foretold,) and 
could not, because they would not, receive the 
truth. " Nevertheless,'' continues the Apostle, 



OPEN CONFESSION OF CHRIST. igi 

as in our text, " among the chief rulers also many 
believed on Him : but because of the Pharisees 
they did not confess Him, lest they should be 
put out of the synagogue." 

Let me ask your attention, brethren, to this 
record which St. John here places before us, as 
containing a statement not only interesting in 
itself, but also (with the comment of the sacred 
writer) very suggestive to us in the days in 
which we live. 

I. The fact stated is interesting and instruct- 
ive, remembering the connection in which it oc- 
curs ; — " Among the chief rulers* many believed 
on Him." How many these were, we know not, 
but the number must have been comparatively 
large, to be thus spoken of. Many among those 
in authority were, no doubt, unable to resist the 
conclusions forced upon them, by the evidences 
of our Lord's divinity and messiahship, and by 
His miracles and teaching and daily life ; and 
every principle of honesty and truthfulness im- 
pelled them to the decision, that He who did 
such things as these, and taught such truths as 
He taught, must be the Lord's Christ. They 
could not put away from them this conclusion. 



1 92 OPEN CONFESSION OF CHRIST. 

They were forced, even against their wishes, to 
believe. They did believe on Him; and we may 
fairly suppose that they hoped and expected, 
that One, who showed Himself so powerful in 
word and deed, would ere long proclaim Him- 
self the King of Israel, and assume the lordship 
over His people. These rulers who believed 
were not, probably, the guiding or leading spirits 
among the Pharisees ; for the men who stood in 
the forefront, and compelled others to follow as 
they led the way, were too deeply steeped in 
hatred, and burned too fiercely with a desire for 
revenge upon the Holy and Undefiled One, to 
be capable of believing in any proper sense of the 
word ; but these, who were "the many," were a 
large portion of the Jewish Sanhedrim, perhaps 
a majority of a body of men, professedly on an 
equality, but still (as it ever has been in the 
world), under the control of a few bold, cunning, 
sagacious, able men. These " believed, " and if 
every thing else had been right and suitable, ac- 
cording to their wishes, they would have been 
ready to profess their belief ; and would have 
been glad to come out, in an open manner, and 
acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah. 



OPEN CONFESSION OF CHRIST. 

II. Take note further, brethren, of the reason 
why these rulers did not confess the Lord Jesus, 
viz., " lest they should be put out of the syna- 
gogue." Evidently, they belonged to a class of 
cautious, careful, timid, time-serving persons. 
They were determined to secure and to keep the 
good opinion of their friends and neighbors. 
They were not disposed to be rash, or hasty, in 
taking steps which might bring them into collis- 
ion with settled and established views and opin- 
ions and practices ; and as for running any risk 
of being put out of the synagogue, which would 
entail disgrace and scorn upon them, they could 
not think of that for a moment ; it was too terri- 
ble ; that was too great a sacrifice ; that was too 
much to expect of any one situate as they were, 
men of distinction, men in office and power, men 
connected by interest and ties of kindred with 
the high and lofty and proud, the maintainers 
and sustainers of things as they were. It is true, 
that these "many among the chief rulers" could 
not but feel that honesty (to put it on the lowest 
ground), required of them to confess the Lord in 
whom they believed. They knew in their own 
hearts, as well as we do, that if they claimed to 
9 



!Q4 OPEN CONFESSION OF CHRIST. 

be possessed of manly and honorable spirits, they 
were bound not to hesitate a moment about act- 
ing in an honorable, manly, truth-loving manner ; 
but, the prevailing tone and temper of the com- 
munity, especially of the richer and haughtier 
among them, were decidedly against such a 
course. Jesus, though they believed on Him, 
was too little in favor with the Pharisees. His 
doctrines were too unfashionable. He Himself 
was too unpretending, and mixed too much with 
the poor and the outcast. He taught too many 
things which well-to-do people, and the proud, 
and vain, and fashionable, do not like, and will 
not adopt. And so, they held back. They kept 
their convictions to themselves. They preferred 
to have the approbation of men, to securing the 
favor of God. They determined to go with the 
current; to keep on good terms with the world 
at large ; and not to say or do any thing which 
might lead to unpleasant results. Truth, and 
acknowledging and acting upon the truth, they 
looked upon as all very well, and even very com- 
mendable, in its way ; but, then, they were not 
the men to think it necessary to sacrifice place, 
or position, or power, or influence, or the good 



OPEN CONFESSION OF CHRIST. 

opinion of others, on account of truth, especially 
when the truth happened to be that which the 
leaders among the Pharisees had not only not 
adopted, but had fiercely denounced. They 
chose rather to crush all the scruples of con- 
science, and to turn a deaf ear to all the silent 
pleadings of the better part of their nature, what- 
ever might be the consequence, and however 
certainly they might know that they were pur- 
suing a course unworthy of honest, truth-loving, 
candid men. 

III. You will readily understand, brethren, 
that, in what I have said thus far, I have had be- 
fore me a purpose beyond the mere setting forth 
the course of conduct pursued by the Jews. In 
itself considered, it is not perhaps a matter of 
much consequence to any of us, what they said 
and did ; but, inasmuch as " all Scripture is given 
by inspiration of God,"* and " is written for our 
learning," inasmuch as men are now, under 
changed circumstances, it is true, yet substan- 
tially the same that they ever were, — my design 
has been to lead you, if possible, to reflect seri- 
ously upon this subject; to induce you to make 

w z Timothy 111. 16. 



I 9 6 OPEN COXFESSIOX OF CHRIST. 

a practical application of it ; and to persuade you 
to note carefully, how the very same principles, 
which the Evangelist puts on record as govern- 
ing the Jews in his day, operate in our day, in 
their fullest force among our own selves. 

The state of things, no question, is quite dif- 
ferent now from what it was w T hen our Lord 
dwelt among men. Now, it is by no means any 
disgrace to a man to be a professing Christian. 
Now, a man runs no risk of being excluded from 
any lofty or honorable position, because he is a 
believer in the Lord Jesus. Certainly not ; yet 
the world, and the influence of the world, are 
now, at this day, opposed to the Gospel, and 
hinder the progress and open confession of the 
truth, in many a heart, almost, if not quite, as 
much as in the days of fiercest persecution, or in 
any period of the Church's history, when Chris- 
tians were called upon to sacrifice the dearest 
objects in life for the cause of Christ's truth 
among men. 

That this is really so, be ye yourselves, breth- 
ren, the judges. It requires no very extensive 
acquaintance with men to see and know, that 
they are continually drawn away from the truth, 



OPEN CONFESSION OF CHRIST. igy 

and drawn away from reason, from the convic- 
tions of conscience, from their sense of right, and 
honesty, and manliness, and consistency, by be- 
ing placed in a position in the world, where an 
outspoken avowal of belief in the Lord Jesus 
Christ, and a determination to act upon the prin- 
ciples of the Gospel, would subject them to va- 
rious inconveniences, various unpleasant and dis- 
agreeable remarks, and surmises, and sarcasms, 
and the like. It is no uncommon thing to find 
men who are convinced, thoroughly persuaded, 
that Christianity is true, and who know, and 
when appealed to will acknowledge, the obliga- 
tions resting upon them to confess it openly, and 
live up to its plain requisitions ; — but, as they 
will tell you, they are so situated, in many re- 
spects ; they are so connected with others, who 
are not under the influence of Christian princi- 
ples ; they are in the midst of fashionable people, 
and dare not venture to resist even the least of 
the despotic demands of fashionable society ; or 
they are in business, where the men they asso- 
ciate with do not feel it needful to be too precise 
on many points, and where they must do as oth- 
ers do, or else they will come short in business 



igS OPEN CONFESSION OF CHRIST. 

operations and not obtain as large gains as their 
neighbors. They will tell you also, that they 
have acquired certain fixed habits of life ; have 
been used to certain enjoyments and pleasures ; 
and have not refused the society and intercourse 
of such persons as are well known to be oppo- 
nents of religion, and proud of their freedom, as 
they call it, from superstition and priestcraft. 
They have never, they confess, troubled them- 
selves about giving liberally to the poor. They 
have never felt that there was any particular call 
upon them, to bestow time and effort upon pro- 
viding for the spread of the Gospel. And so it 
has happened, from one cause or another, that, 
though they will acknowledge they ought to 
take up the cross, and ought to bear the cross, 
as all honest Christians do bear it, yet, on the 
w T hole, seeing that things are as they are, they 
prefer to go on in the usual way, taking the 
world and its affairs as they come, and leaving 
Christ's truth to make progress as best it can, 
and to be sustained by other hands than theirs. 

Such no doubt is the case, such I know to be 
the case, with more than one individual with 
whom, as a minister of God, I have been brought 



OPEN COXFESSION OF CHRIST. igg 

into contact. It seems marvellous that it should 
be so. It seems passing strange that any right- 
minded person can hesitate a moment about do- 
ing right, when he knows what is right. Never- 
theless, we see that it is so, every day ; and we 
see also, how deceitful sin is, and how alluring 
are the enticements of the enemy of souls. If 
he cannot altogether prevent men from being 
convinced of the truth of Christianity, as a ques- 
tion of argument and reason, he strives hard to 
prevent their going any further, and to put them 
at ease, under an idea that assenting to the Gos- 
pel as true is sufficient, without the honest and 
vigorous effort to act and live as the Gospel re- 
quires. Men are continually deceiving them- 
selves, or being deceived, in this way ; vainly 
supposing that words, without deeds, will suffice ; 
that profession, without practice, will answer; 
or that God will accept the service of the lips, 
while the heart is far away from Him. 

I appeal to you, brethren, to judge the truth 
of what I say ; and I beg you to beware of trust- 
ing to convictions of the understanding or intel- 
lect alone. Believe me, a man may reach a posi- 
tive conclusion, from an examination of the evi- 



200 



OPEN CONFESSION OF CHRIST. 



dences, that Christianity is true. A man may 
go through a process of reasoning, in which each 
step is indissolubly linked to each preceding step, 
and may be logically certain, that the Scriptures 
are what they claim to be, and that the Blessed 
Saviour was all that He declared Himself to be. 
A man may be even a student and critic of the 
books of the Bible, and be charmed with their 
beauties, their sublimity, their pathos, and their 
lofty morality. And yet, like the chief rulers of 
old, he may be of those who do not confess the 
Master before men, and do not take up the cross, 
and follow Him day by day. Be ye warned 
against so fatal a delusion ; and settle it in your 
hearts, as an indisputable truth, that you cannot 
serve God and serve this world at the same time, 
and that if }^ou are truly Christ's soldiers and 
servants, you must fight the good fight of faith 
manfully, fearlessly, and unceasingly. 



XVI. 



ENERGY OF THE HOLY GHOST IN 
THE GOSPEL. 



" So mightily grew the word of God, and prevailed." 

N reading and studying the Gospels and the 



Acts of the Apostles, every Christian man 
must be struck with one remarkable fact in 
these historical books, and that is, the marvellous 
change which came over the Apostles shortly 
after our Lord's Ascension into heaven. Every 
one of you, brethren, doubtless recollects that, 
during the whole time of the Saviour's ministry 
on earth, the twelve stand before us on the rec- 
ord as full of carnal prejudices, dull of apprehen- 
sion, wanting in courage, and unable to grasp 
the glorious, ennobling truths which their Lord 
taught day by day. And even after His Resur- 



Acts xix. 20. 




0" 



(201) 



202 ENERGY OF THE HOLY GHOST. 

rection, — that crowning miracle of love and mer- 
cy, — their minds still were dwelling upon the 
pre-eminence of the Jews, and the restoration of 
the earthly kingdom of David. But, within only 
a short space, we find them braving the wrath 
of Scribes and Pharisees and the scorn of mock- 
ing heathen ; courageous in preaching the truth ; 
full of zeal and energy ; emancipated from Jew- 
ish, narrow-minded prejudices ; rejoicing that 
they were counted worthy to suffer persecution 
for the name of Christ ; and ready to go to the 
ends of the earth in order to proclaim the Gospel 
to every creature. 

If we look at the Apostles simply as ordinary 
men, having only ordinary inducements and mo- 
tives to a particular course of action, and con- 
sider what qualifications they possessed for mak- 
ing the Gospel known and believed throughout 
the world, we shall see at once, that (with 
the single exception of St. Paul), they were all 
unfitted for an office of so great difficulty and so 
great danger. Plain, unlettered men ; bred in the 
narrow, bigoted notions and habits of thought 
and speech of their nation ; unacquainted with 
the world ; ignorant of languages and history ; 



ENERGY OF THE HOLY GHOST. 203 

possessing none of the graces of eloquence ; with- 
out claim to refinement, or learning, or reputa- 
tion ; — what had they to render them fit for so 
momentous a work, as that of going forth to con- 
tend, in their Master's cause, against the whole 
world ? What reason was there to imagine even, 
that, notwithstanding the abstract beauty and 
excellence of their teaching, they, obscure and 
ignoble Jews, from a despised corner of the earth, 
could obtain a hearing from, or overcome the op- 
position of the rich, the great, the intellectual, 
the wise, the voluptuous, the ignorant, the de- 
based, the idolatrous heathen ? On the supposi- 
tion that they relied on themselves, or their own 
ability and power, or were deceivers or impos- 
tors, it becomes wholly unaccountable whence 
they derived their zeal and courage, their knowl- 
edge and wisdom, their patience and persever- 
ance, their consistent profession and practice, 
and, — that which no impostor or deceiver ever 
had, — their unsullied purity of private life. Dur- 
ing the Saviour's ministry on earth, they gave 
no special indications of aptness for preaching 
the Gospel. On the contrary, they did not un- 
derstand the Master's words ; they were, in great 



204 ENERGY OF THE HOLY GHOST 

measure, ignorant of His spirit; they did not, 
hardly at all, comprehend the plan and purpose 
of His mission ; they forsook Him in the hour of 
danger; they denied Him through fear; they 
thought that all was at an end, when He was 
crucified ; they rejoiced indeed at His resurrec- 
tion, but gave little or no heed to its import and 
value ; and, notwithstanding all the time and pa- 
tient care bestowed upon them by the Divine 
Teacher, whom they loved and adored, yet, of 
themselves, they were far too weak and ineffi- 
cient ever to succeed in contending successfully 
against Jewish bigotry and intolerance, and hea- 
then mockings and persecution. Considering, 
then, the Apostles, as the}' are presented to us in 
the Gospels, and judging of the probabilities of 
success by what facts are on record respecting 
their slowness of apprehension, and their lack of 
courage and boldness, it becomes, in truth, noth- 
ing short of miraculous, that, within so brief a 
space of time, so marked and complete a change 
should have taken place in them ; that the doubt- 
ing, hesitating^ prejudiced, timid Jew of yester- 
day, should have become the courageous, catho- 
lic-minded, Christian Apostle of to-day. 



EX ERG Y OF THE HOLY GHOST. 205 

Such reflections as these must have recurred 
to most of you, brethren, while reading and med- 
itating upon the Gospels and Acts of the Apos- 
tles, and you must have perceived, I think, how 
forcible a bearing such striking facts as those just 
spoken of, have upon the question of the truth 
of the Blessed Gospel, and the successful preach- 
ing of it throughout the world. Let me beg 
your attention, ^still further, to some considera- 
tions, in direct connection with this topic, which 
not only tend to demonstrate the verity of our 
most holy faith, but are of the highest practical 
importance to every man among us. 

I. First, then, as to this remarkable change 
which was wrought in our Lord's Apostles very 
soon after His Ascension ; to what, let me ask, 
are we to attribute it ? Was it the effect of what 
men call natural causes ? Was it brought about 
by imposture or hypocrisy ? Or, did it proceed 
from God, and God alone ? Turn to the Gospel 
record, and mark well what it sets before us. 
There we learn that, during our Lord's ministry, 
He was in the habit of frequently speaking to His 
followers of the Holy Ghost, the Paraclete, the 
Comforter. He beheld how little effect, compar- 



206 ENERGY OF THE HOLY GHOST. 

atively, was produced upon their minds by His 
teaching and His example ; and He often re- 
minded them of the precious gift of His Spirit, 
which He would purchase for them by His death 
and sacrifice on the cross. Again and again, He 
spake to them of that Divine Person, who was to 
come and " reprove the world of sin, and of right- 
eousness, and of judgment ;" * and on many oc- 
casions, He told them that it was necessary that 
He should go away, in order that He might send 
the Holy Spirit to be with them. He was to be 
their Teacher, their Helper, their Defender, at 
all times ; He was to give them a mouth and 
wisdom, which all their adversaries could not 
gainsay nor resist ; He was to furnish them with 
light, and strength, and guidance, under all cir- 
cumstances ; and in, and by, and through Him 
w^ere they to be fitted for the office of Christ's 
ambassadors. Such was the Saviour's promise, 
such His command ; and they were to wait at 
Jerusalem, until they should " be baptized with 
the Holy Ghost," f in all the fulness of His gifts 
and graces for their high office. Then, said the 
Lord Jesus, as He stood on the Mount of Olives, 

* St. John xvi. 8. f Acts i. 5. 



ENERGY OF THE HOLY GHOST. 20? 

just ready to ascend into heaven, " Ye shall re- 
ceive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come 
upon you ; and ye shall be witnesses unto Me 
both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Sama- 
ria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." 

Ten days only after these gracious words were 
uttered, the Apostles were assembled with one 
accord in one place ; and suddenly, there came 
a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty 
wind, and it filled all the house where they were 
sitting. And there were seen, as it were tongues 
of fire, distributing themselves, and settling upon 
them, one on each of the Apostles. And they 
were all filled with the Holy Ghost. From that 
very hour, they were changed indeed. From 
that very hour, they had power given them to 
preach the Gospel in languages which they had 
never learned. Their ignorance was gone, and 
their doubts were removed. There was no more 
weakness, no more hesitation, no more wavering, 
no fear of enemies, and no shrinking from perse- 
cution for the Master's sake. And they went 
forth, and on that very day, and from that very 
day, they preached Christ crucified, and Christ 
raised from the dead, with irresistible power and 



208 ENERGY OF THE HOLY GHOST. 

effect. They never ceased their labors while life 
lasted. They never hesitated to proclaim the 
truth as it is in Jesus, every where, in all places, 
at all times, and to all persons. With their un- 
derstandings opened to know and to teach the 
Holy Scriptures, and with their souls full of the 
love of Christ, they spake boldly and forcibly, 
and yet wisely and compassionately ; by their 
hands were wrought miracles and wonders and 
signs among the people ; and so, because God 
was with them, it happened, as statecj in our 
text, " mightily grew the Word of God and pre- 
vailed. "i 

II. It is evident, then, that from no merely 
human source, could have proceeded the more 
than human energy and w T isdom with which the 
Apostles were gifted all at once. It is equally 
evident, that the Holy Spirit alone, by His di- 
vine power, could have worked this marvellous 
change in the Apostles. The conclusion which 
inevitably follows, and it is eminently a practical 
conclusion, is this, that, as the Holy Spirit gave 
the Apostles power to speak, and efficacy to the 
word spoken by them, so has it always been, and 
so is it now, that the preaching of the Gospel, 



ENERGY OF THE HOLY GHOST. 209 

and the reception of the Gospel, depend, ab- 
solutely, for their success and vivifying power 
upon the life-giving energy of the Holy Ghost. 

The ministry of Christ come to you, brethren, 
and preach the Gospel, not in their own strength, 
not with the words of man's wisdom, not with 
eloquent speech, as if by their own power, or 
learning, or enticing words, they could accom- 
plish the Master's will. They know that, in and 
of themselves, they are nothing, and can effect 
nothing. They know that, unless the Holy Spirit 
has taught them ; unless He has opened their 
eyes ; unless He has quickened their affections ; 
elevated ' their minds, and raised them up to 
high and holy things ; they are ignorant, and 
blind, and cold, and dead. They know that the 
work to be done is God's work, and that God 
only can give the ability to do it. They know 
that our most holy faith stands not in the wisdom 
and power of man, but derives all its strength 
and efficacy from God the Holy Ghost. And so, 
continually praying for His heavenly assistance ; 
trusting that they are indeed inwardly moved by 
Him to the office whereunto they are called ; 
they proclaim in your ears, out of the Holy Scrip- 



210 ENERGY OF THE HOLY GHOST. 

tures, the things necessary to eternal salvation. 
They minister the doctrine and sacraments and 
discipline of Christ, as the Lord hath commanded. 
They use both public and private monitions and 
exhortations; and as messengers, watchmen and 
stewards of the Lord, they teach and premonish ; 
they feed and provide for the Lord's family ; they 
seek for Christ's sheep that are dispersed abroad, 
and for His children who are in the midst of this 
naughty world, that they may be saved through 
Christ for ever. All this they do, being at the 
same time well assured, that the will and ability 
so to do are given of God alone, to set forth the 
eternal praise of His Holy Name. 

But it is not only the preaching of the Gospel 
that depends upon the gifts and graces of the 
Holy Ghost ; the reception of it is equally depen- 
dent upon the same Divine assistance. Ye can- 
not, brethren, hear the word of truth and obey it 
with the heart, unless the Holy Spirit move you 
thereto, and unless He implant in your souls the 
good desire, and strengthen it in you, day by 
day, until it bring forth the peaceable fruits of 
righteousness. A Paul may plant,* an Apollos 

* i Corinthians iii. 6. 



EN ERG Y OF THE HOL Y GHOST. 2 1 1 

may water, but God alone can give the increase. 
The most faithful and earnest exposition of Holy 
Scripture, the most urgent exhortation, the most 
solemn warning, may all be in vain to you, my 
brethren ; for you may wilfully close your eyes 
to the truth ; you may refuse to hear ; you may 
obstinately resist the pleadings of the Spirit ; and 
you may, — that awful power is yours, — you may 
destroy your own souls. God the Holy Ghost 
does not compel you to receive the Gospel, and 
be saved. Though without His aid ye can do 
nothing ; though without His grace ye have no 
spiritual life in you ; yet He does not force it 
upon you. He most freely offers it unto you ; 
and He most lovingly calls and invites you to 
repent you of your sins, to amend your lives, and 
to live as becometh those who are named by the 
Name of Christ. He knoweth that ye cannot 
turn by your own natural strength to faith and 
calling upon God ; He knoweth that ye have no 
power to do good works pleasant and acceptable 
to God, without the grace of Christ preventing 
you, that you may have a good will, and work- 
ing with you when you have that good will ; and 
so He does not withhold from any one among 



212 



ENERGY OF THE HOLY GHOST. 



you His gracious monitions, His gracious help, 
His gracious transforming power and efficacy, if 
ye will only give heed to what He so lovingly 
and so continually urges upon your attention. 

I consider, brethren, as I have before said, that 
this is eminently a practical subject, and I might 
dwell much longer in endeavoring to enforce it 
upon you; but having suggested its practical 
bearing, as clearly as I am able, I leave it with 
you ; and in conclusion beseech you, in the 
words of St. Paul, who asked it in his own be- 
half as well as that of all the ministry, — " pray 
for us."* Pray for those who labor among you 
in the Lord, and who must also give account at 
the last day for what they have said and done in 
your midst. Pray that they may be filled with 
the Holy Ghost, that they may be replenished 
with the truth of Christ's doctrine, and adorned 
with innocency of life. Pray that the word 
spoken by their mouth may be rendered effect- 
ual to the salvation of souls, and that it may al- 
ways have such success that it may never be 
spoken in vain. And also, do not forget that ye 
must pray for your ownselves, in order to obtain 

* i Thessalonians v. 25. 



ENERGY OE THE HOLY GHOST. 213 

grace to hear and receive what the ambassadors 
for Christ shall deliver unto you out of God's 
Holy Word, or agreeably to the same, as the 
means of your salvation. Never be unmindful 
that ye must labor and strive, as well as pray. 
Always endeavor yourselves, by all the means 
of grace within your reach, — by the public serv- 
ices of the Church, by the use of the sacraments 
and ordinances, by the reading and study of 
Holy Scripture, by private meditation and dili- 
gent self-examination, watching unto prayer, — to 
make advances, steadily forward in the Christian 
life. For so is the will of God that His Word 
shall mightily increase and prevail over all oppo- 
sition, to the breaking down the kingdom of sin, 
Satan and death, and to the manifesting forth 
the glory of Him who redeemed all mankind, 
and the knowledge of whom shall cover the 
earth as the waters cover the sea.* So is it His 
gracious purpose that ere long His elect shall 
be avenged,f His truth become triumphant in 
the world, and all nations and kindreds and 
tongues shall know that " the Lord He is God, 
the Lord He is God." % Hasten, O Blessed 

* Isaiah xi. 9 f St. Luke xviii. 7. % 1 Kings xviii. 39. 



214 ENERGY OF THE HOLY GHOST. 

Master, that day of rejoicing ; and grant that 
now and ever hereafter, Thy " Word may have 
free course and be glorified. "* Amen. 

* 2 Thessalonians iii. i. 



XVII. 



THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE 
WILDERNESS. 

St, Matthew xi. n. 

''Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women 
there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist : notwith- 
standing, he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater 
than he." 

THE season of Advent, being the season ap- 
pointed by the Church, of which we are 
members, to precede the festival of the Nativity 
of our Lord and Saviour, is always full of interest 
to the Christian. The services in God's house 
at this season, not only bring before his mind 
and heart the marvellous condescension of the 
Son of God in coming into the world to save 
sinners, but they also direct a large share of his 
attention to that remarkable character of whom 
our Lord speaks in the text, and who said of 

(215) 



2i6 THE VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS. 



himself, " I am the voice of one crying in the 
wilderness."* In each of the morning lessons 
from the New Testament, all through Advent, 
the son of Zacharias and Elizabeth is the one of 
whom the Evangelist gives us the record. The 
Gospels for the Third and Fourth Sundays in 
Advent also tell us of John and his mission. And 
in addition, the Church has set forth, among the 
holy-days of the year, one to commemorate the 
Nativity of John the Baptist.f 

I think it, therefore, very meet and proper, at 
this time, to ask you, brethren, to devote special 
attention to the life and career of this eminent 
servant of God. Sure I am that it will well re- 
pay you ; and I shall consider my work, this 
morning, as performed to the Master's honor and 
the good of your souls, if what I shall say, shall 
have the effect of leading you (in the words of 
the Collect) " so to follow John Baptist's doc- 
trine and holy life, that you may truly repent 
according to his preaching, and after his exam- 
ple constantly speak the truth, boldly rebuke 
vice, and patiently suffer for the truth's sake." 

John, the son of venerable and godly parents, 

* St. John i. 23. f June 24. 



THE VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS. 2 iy 

every where in the Gospel narrative holds a po- 
sition peculiarly his own. He was the subject of 
prophecy recorded in the Old Testament.* He 
was wonderfully born, only a few months before 
the Messiah Himself was incarnate. His parents 
were devout servants of the Lord, waiting, like 
all God's faithful people were waiting at that 
day, for "the Consolation of Israel." The aged 
priest foretold under the Holy Spirit's influence, 
what John's office and work were to be. And 
under the care and guidance of such a father and 
mother, " the child grew, and waxed strong in 
spirit;" and in due time, retiring from the busy 
haunts of men, to the solitary region on the banks 
of the Jordan, he spent the intervening years, 
until he was of full age according to the law, in 
the study of divine wisdom, and in disciplining 
himself for the work given him to do. 

Yet, take note, brethren, John is every where 
spoken of as " the voice of one crying in the wil- 
derness, make straight the way of the Lord," as 
the messenger sent by God before the face of 
the Messiah ; the one having a special work to 
do with reference to the Lord's Christ ; and the 

* Isaiah xl. 3 ; Malachi iii. 1. 

IO 



2i8 THE VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS. 

one who did his work, and bore his full and ex- 
plicit testimony to the " Lamb of God that taketh 
away the sin of the world."* Then, having told 
us of John's imprisonment and martyrdom in 
defence of the truth and purity of God's com- 
mandments, the sacred narrative leaves him in 
his place, with the other saints of God, against 
the final day of award. 

The work of John the Baptist, highly import- 
ant as it was, was not the work of an Evangelist. 
His mission was not to preach the Gospel, as it 
is preached unto us. He came " in the spirit 
and power of Elijah," f and like that mighty 
prophet of the old dispensation, whose zeal and 
fervor burn as it were like fire in the history of 
the Jews, so John aroused the masses of the na- 
tion by preaching repentance and baptizing with 
water unto repentance and amendment of life. 
The miserably corrupt, death-like condition of 
the people in regard to spiritual things required 
some one to deal plainly and pointedly with 
them ; and, even as Elijah did, when standing 
alone on Mount Carmel, he denounced, with tre- 
mendous power and effect, the host of Baal's 

* St. John i. 29. f St. Luke i. 17. 



THE VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS. 219 

worshippers and followers, so John the Baptist, 
sternly and unsparingly, laid bare the unbelief, 
and hypocrisy, and deep degradation of his coun- 
trymen. He came to announce the near ap- 
proach of the Christ, the Word of God ; his bap- 
tism was that of repentance, not the baptism 
with water and the Holy Ghost, which the 
Blessed Saviour instituted for His people's good 
in all ages to come ; and his labors were spent in 
breaking down the pride, and stubbornness, and 
folly of those who, because they were Abraham's 
children according to the flesh, thought that 
enough, and being the Lord's people in name, 
cared not how much they served the devil, in 
their daily life and conduct. 

The public ministry of the holy Baptist was 
brief in point of time, though so effective in re- 
sults. A few months or less than a year were all 
that was vouchsafed for this " burning and shin- 
ing light," (as our Lord calls him,) to go through 
with his work; nevertheless he performed his 
work, then and there, as well as in the pres- 
ence of the guilty tetrarch, with a power and 
energy unsurpassed in the records of God's min- 
istering servants. 



220 THE VOICE IN THE WIIDERXESS. 

How must the multitudes from Jerusalem and 
all Judea, that flocked to hear him, have been 
struck with astonishment at his appearance as 
well as his words ! Clad in the dress of the old 
prophets, with a garment of camel's hair fastened 
to his body by a leathern girdle, fed with such 
food as the desert afforded, neither wine nor 
strong drink having ever passed his lips, there 
he stood on the banks of the Jordan, and cried 
aloud, " Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is 
at hand."* There too, again and again, he re- 
peated this startling call. With a boldness and 
honesty which feared not nor regarded the face 
of man, he laid the axe at the root of the tree of 
all their self-righteousness, and demanded of 
them " fruits worthy of repentance." f No class 
or description of his hearers escaped the severe 
and searching reproofs of the messenger of God. 
He warned them all, that the Lord's fan was in 
His hand, that the time had come when hypoc- 
risy and self-deceit and all manner of ungodliness 
would no longer be allowed to go unpunished, 
and that the Lord would thoroughly purge His 
floor and burn up the chaff with unquenchable 
* St. Matthew iii. 2. f St. Luke iii. 8. 



THE VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS. 



fire. He thus wrought upon their hearts and 
consciences with almost miraculous effect, and 
all kinds and descriptions of men, Pharisees and 
Sadducees, publicans and soldiers, were stricken 
with sudden conviction, and were baptized of 
John in the Jordan, confessing their sins.* 

No wonder, that so great a preacher as this, 
acquired a wide spread popularity, and was fol- 
lowed by crowds of admiring hearers. No won- 
der that his praise and the marvel of his speech 
were echoed from every quarter, and that " all 
men," as St. Luke says, " mused in their hearts 
of John, whether he were the Christ or not."f 
No wonder, so noted did he become, that a depu- 
tation of the priests and levites from Jerusalem 
came to inquire of him as to his claims and posi- 
tion, and the grounds of his preaching and bap- 
tizing, as he was then doing. No wonder at all 
this, certainly ; but we must observe, that it pro- 
duced no injurious effect upon John himself, nor 
did it lead him to dishonor, in any wise, the 
cause of the Master. He was not puffed up with 
pride and self-importance. He laid claim to 
nothing for himself. Much as crowds might 

*St. Matthew iii. 6. f St. Luke iii. 15. 



222 THE VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS. 

wait upon him ; powerful as were his words ; 
wonderful as was the result ; )~et he never forgot 
what he was sent to do, and he never swerved 
from the right line of duty. The fickle populace 
might admire and follow after him day by day, 
till some new object attracted their attention : 
yet the single-minded, faithful Baptist, as every 
ministering servant of Christ strives to do, sought 
to commend himself to the Lord, rather than to 
men, and to preach the truth in its fulness and 
power, whether the people hear or forbear. 

The concluding part of John's life and career 
I need not now dwell upon. You remember, 
that he was sent for by Herod, who listened to 
his preaching and after his way took a certain 
pleasure in it. You remember, also, that be- 
cause John would not refrain from denouncing 
adultery, though the king himself was one of the 
parties, he was cast into prison, and languished 
there for a long period, until, finally, he was mur- 
dered to satisfy the vengeful hate of such a wo- 
man as Herodias was. It needs not that I en- 
large upon these matters here and now ; I have 
already done so on a former occasion.* I shall 
*See pp. 83-96. 



THE VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS. 223 

rather take the present opportunity of saying a 
word or two concerning the true glory of John 
Baptist's career, and of the advantages which, 
by God's blessing, we and all Christ's people 
have over him. 

What I have termed the true glory of this 
eminent servant of God consists mainly in his 
humility, his self-depreciation, his constant refer- 
ence of all that he said and did to the carrying 
out the purposes of the Lord and Master. It 
was not simply his honesty, his boldness, his 
courage, under trials and temptations almost im- 
possible for man to bear up against ; it was not 
his power as a preacher and his ability to stir to 
their very depths the hearts of his hearers ; it 
was not these alone which rendered him truly 
" great in the sight of the Lord."* For, you know, 
brethren, there have been men of mark before 
this in the world ; there are men now, who are 
honest, and bold, and eloquent, and energetic ; 
and where these qualities are required they 
stand in the very fore-front ; but how seldom do 
you find a man of nerve and power among his 
fellow-men, a man whose words compel an au- 

* St. Luke i. 15. 



224 THE V0ICE IN THE WILDERNESS. 

dience to listen to and be moved by his marvel- 
lous force of speech, — how seldom, I say, do you 
find such a man, humble, with no high thoughts 
of himself, and shrinking from the adulation 
which the masses of the people are ever ready to 
bestow upon those who please them ! John the 
Baptist, though he was inferior to no living man 
in all those qualities which I have just noted, 
was something more, was something nobler still. 
Himself, apart from his work, he counted to be 
nothing. He was only " the voice of one crying 
in the wilderness." He had no personal ends to 
serve, and no worthiness of his own. His mis- 
sion was simply to announce the coming of the 
Lord's Christ. He was ready, at any moment, to 
decrease, as he says of himself;* to sink in the 
estimation of the people ; to retire out of sight ; 
to become as one forgotten ; any thing and every 
thing, so that his work be rightly done, and that 
Holy One whose shoe-latchet he was not worthy 
to loose be glorified among men. Truly, " among 
them that are born of women there hath not risen 
a greater than John the Baptist." 

And yet, brethren, what precious privileges 

* St. John iii. 30. 



THE VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS. 2 2$ 

and blessings have we, which that faithful serv- 
ant of God was not allowed to enjoy. " He that 
is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than 
John the Baptist." For we, members of Christ, 
children of God, and heirs of eternal life, we have 
all that our Lord came into the world to secure 
for His people. We have the full blaze of the 
Sun of Righteousness shining in all His glory. 
We have the Bridegroom, and are among those 
" called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. "* 
We have the fully completed work of our Lord's 
atonement and sacrifice, and are permitted to 
" eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His 
blood. "f We have the baptism with water and 
the Holy Ghost, the " one baptism for the remis- 
sion of sins." We have the inestimable privi- 
lege, in the Lord's Supper, of partaking of the 
consecrated symbols of His broken body and 
shed blood, and of feeding upon Him in our 
hearts by faith with thanksgiving. We have in 
the Church the perpetual presence of the Com- 
forter sent by our Saviour to be light and peace 
and joy to the penitent and believing. We have, 
in short, all the promises, all the hopes, all the 

* Revelation xix. 9. f St - Jonn vi - 53. 

IO* 



226 THE VOICE IN THE WILDERXESS. 



consolations of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. 

Let us bless and praise God for His goodness 
and compassion ; and let us ever have imprinted 
on our minds that privileges necessarily bring 
with them responsibilities, and (in our Master's 
own words), that "unto whomsoever much is 
given, of him shall much be required."* 

* St. Luke xii. 48. 



XVIII. 



OPPORTUNITIES OF GRACE MUST BE 



" And He came and found them asleep again : for their eyes 
were heavy. And He left them, and went away again, and prayed 
the third time, saying the same words. Then cometh He to His 
disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your 
rest : behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed 
into the hands of sinners. " 



HESE verses, as you are aware, form a 



Ji part of the touching narrative of our 
Lord's sufferings in the Garden. They set be- 
fore us the strange, culpable weakness and in- 
efficiency of His three chosen disciples, St. Pe- 
ter and St. James and St. John ; and they tell 
us what sad words of expostulation and reproof 
were uttered by the Redeemer in that dark hour 
of anguish and agonizing trial. I might well 



USED. 



St. Matthew xxvi. 43-45. 




(227) 



228 OPPORTUNITIES MUST BE USED. 

enlarge upon these words, and undertake to set 
forth, in measure at least, their fulness of im- 
port and impressiveness of meaning ; but such 
is not my present design. It would require too 
large space, and would occupy more time than 
can this morning be devoted to it. I shall, there- 
fore, as most appropriate to the season of fasting 
and prayer through which we are passing, ask 
of you to concentrate your thoughts upon this 
one point, — I shall beg of you to lay fast hold 
upon this single conviction, viz., that opportuni- 
ties are presented to us for growth in grace, 
which must be used when presented, and that 
lost opportunities can never be regained. 

Look at it, brethren, carefully and earnestly. 
I need hardly remind you how true it is in every 
day life, that we must seize upon the opportuni- 
ties within our reach, or lose them forever. The 
history of every community and people is full 
of instances of this kind. The young are per- 
petually letting slip opportunities, some of which 
are never offered but once ; and multitudes of 
all ages, old as well as young, forgetting that 
the same providential law operates at all times 
and in all cases, waste their opportunities, do not 



OPPORTUNITIES MUST BE USED. 2 2g 

embrace occasions which are within their reach, 
and consequently fail in the race of life, where 
others, with no better advantages or reasons for 
success, do succeed. Hundreds and thousands 
murmur and wonder at their want of success in 
worldly affairs, when their failure is due, not to 
their want of capacity or integrity, but to their 
want of promptitude and vigor in laying hold 
upon some one most important opening in their 
path. Such is undoubtedly the regular course 
of things among men ; and though there is now 
and then the rare, exceptional case, which seems 
almost inexplicable, nevertheless it is only in fact 
a proof of the rule. 

But it is not in regard to these matters that the 
ambassador for Christ needs to have much to 
say. Men, in general, are sharp-sighted enough 
as to what qualifications are necessary to success 
in getting riches, or in attaining their object as 
regards worldly aims and plans. There are teach- 
ers enough who are ready to point out the way 
and means for these purposes, and the popular 
reading of the day abounds in helps of all sorts 
for climbing the slippery pathway towards wealth 
and honor and glory among men. My duty rath- 



230 OPPORTUNITIES MUST BE USED. 

er is to urge home upon you, brethren, this truth, 
that you must seize upon opportunities to grow 
in grace when these are presented, and that if, 
through carnal drowsiness or sloth, you lose these 
opportunities, you can never regain them. God 
may, in His mercy and compassion, afford other 
openings. He may do to you as He did to the 
three disciples. They lost, through sleep and 
heaviness, the glorious privilege of striving in 
prayer and supplication while the Master was in 
His agony in the garden, and had said to them, 
" watch with Me." That privilege could never 
occur but once in their lives. Although God 
gave them other opportunities of serving Him, 
other privileges of laboring in the cause of truth 
and goodness, yet that opportunity of watching 
and praying with the Redeemer in the darkest 
hour of suffering, that opportunity of gaining 
nearer approach to the perfect obedience of the 
angelic host, one of whom stood by Him com- 
forting and supporting Him,* that was lost for- 
ever. 

God may, brethren, it is true, in His infinite 
compassion, extend to you other opportunities 

* St. Luke xxii. 43. 



OPPORTUNITIES MUST BE USED. 23 1 

beside those which you have neglected or mis- 
used ; but it is equally true that He may not. If 
we treat with indifference and virtual contempt 
the privileges of growth in grace which this year 
are placed within our reach ; if we put off to a 
later period doing what we mean to do some 
time or other ; if we hear and read in the Bible 
the plain, positive command of the Master on 
some one of those subjects in which our soul's 
life and health are concerned, and yet defer to a 
more " convenient season" obeying His com- 
mand ; — if we act in this way, can we be at all 
certain that the next year will come to us with 
like opportunities and privileges ? Have we any 
assurance that the next year will be ours at all? 
And if God permit it to be ours, do we know 
that we shall then be in a condition to embrace 
opportunities of drawing nearer and nearer to 
our Lord and Saviour? Are we sure that we 
shall then be fitted to lay hold upon providential 
openings to do good, and to break away from 
spiritual sloth and deadness ? 

No, brethren, " Now is the accepted time ; 
now is the day of salvation." * We must listen 

* 2 Corinthians vi. 2. 



232 OPPORTUNITIES MUST BE USED. 

to the whisperings of God's Spirit now, when 
He is pleased to breathe upon our souls. We 
must so act now, while the opportunity is afford- 
ed, that men will take knowledge of us, as they 
did of St. Peter and St. John, that we have been 
with Jesus." We must so stand up for the truth 
to-day, that we may not to-morrow find it to be 
too late. We must be good Samaritans, " com- 
fort the feeble-minded, support the weak,"f be 
valiant for right, set our faces steadily against 
evil, "have no fellowship with the unfruitful 
works of darkness,";}: — now, this very day, while 
the privilege is ours ; for we know not but 
that this is our last opportunity ; we know not 
but that the mournful words of the Master ex- 
press our case too, — "sleep on now, and take 
your rest;" your opportunities are past and 
gone, never to be recalled. Yes, we must turn 
to immediate account the blessed privileges of 
growing up into Him which sorrow, as well as 
joy, brings in its train ; and we must allow no 
opening to escape us by which we can testify in 
the sight of men that we are, and know that we 
are, stewards of God's bounty and goodness. 

* Acts iv. 13. f 1 Thessalonians v. 14. % Ephesians v. 11. 



OPPORTUNITIES MUST BE USED. 233 

We must be on our guard not to let the lapse of 
time,- the flow of daily life, the business of the 
world, rob us of the opportunity to draw from 
pain and trial, as well as prosperity and success, 
the special blessings which they offer when right- 
ly received and used. " Watch and pray," are 
our Lord's own words. We must ask ourselves, 
each one for himself, What have I done? and 
what have I left undone, for the cause of Christ 
and His Church? Have I watched with my 
Lord, or have I slept at my post ? Certainly, if 
we would be safe, we must take heed against 
drowsiness and spiritual sluggishness, and gird 
up the loins of our mind to earnest, active well- 
doing, — " always abounding in the work of the 
Lord."* 

While I am aware, brethren, that there is much 
which must be left unsaid in this connection, still 
your assembling in this house of God to-day re- 
minds me, most forcibly, that I have now a duty 
before me, which, if neglected, may never again 
be permitted me to discharge. To-day, you 
have offered for your acceptance the special favor 
of coming to the Lord's table. To-day, the Sa- 

t Corinthians xv. 58. 



234 OPPORTUNITIES MUST BE USED. 

viour invites you to come and partake of the holy 
sacrament of His body and blood, which He 
blesses to the nourishment and support of His 
faithful people. To-day, you have set before you 
the highest, most pathetic of all evidences of the 
dying love of Him who redeemed you and all 
mankind. It is not the first time, nor the sec- 
ond, that the same opportunity has been present- 
ed to most of you. It is not the first nor the sec- 
ond time that some of you have refused to come, 
have turned away from the heavenly banquet, 
and have been willing to run the risk of never 
again hearing the Master's voice calling you. 
To-day, — blessed be God for His goodness, — to- 
day, the opportunity is again yours ; to-day, you 
may come, though you have so long staid away ; 
to-day, the feast here spread out is for your spir- 
itual life and health, though you have never yet 
enjoyed it, though you know not how much lean- 
ness of soul has been yours in consequence. But, 
brethren, to-day may be the last for some of 
you. Before another Communion-Sunday comes 
round, it may be too late. You may have the 
liberty allowed you of sleeping on in sloth and 
heaviness. You may find that you have cast 



OFF OR T UNI TIES MUST BE USED. 235 

away forever that which one day you may in- 
deed try to seek, but will hopelessly seek, to 
regain. 

Therefore, brethren beloved, to whom this in- 
vitation is directly addressed, listen to my voice, 
speaking as I do in the Master's name, and by 
His command. Be persuaded. Refuse not to 
hear and obey the pleadings of God's Spirit with 
your souls. And then, in due time, through His 
mercy and goodness in Christ, you " shall ever 
be with the Lord." * 

* 1 Thessalonians iv. 17. 



XIX. 



HOLDING FAST THE TRUTH OF GOD. 



HE Epistle to the Ephesians was written 



X by St. Paul, about a.d. 62, while he was a 
prisoner at Rome, as stated by St. Luke at the 
close of the Acts of the Apostles.* Providen- 
tially hindered, as the Apostle was, for a season, 
from preaching the Gospel wherever he might 
desire, he was nevertheless not the man to sit 
still in inactivity. His whole soul glowed with 
love for the brethren, and among these especially 
for those who believed in Christ in the great city 
of Ephesus, where he had resided for nearly three 
years.f Ardently alive to the superiority of the 
Gospel over every thing else in the world, and 

* Acts xxviii. 16. J- Acts xx. 31. 



Ephesians iv. 15. 



" Speaking the truth in love," 




(236) 



THE TRUTH IN LOVE. 237 

that man had ever conceived or designed, he 
gives himself to the setting forth its true char- 
acter, as not only transforming the moral nature 
of all who embrace it, but as intended to unite, 
and as actually uniting, both angels and men in 
one great communion under Christ, the su- 
preme Lord and Head. 

The venerable Apostle, a prisoner in bonds for 
the Master's sake, was now able to appreciate in 
his own case the special blessedness of the Gos- 
pel, and so profoundly impressed is he with its 
transcendent power and excellence for all men, 
in all cases and conditions of life, that his per- 
sonal experience of God's infinite love and com- 
passion, prompts him to set forth doctrines and 
truths no where else expressed in language so 
full of Apostolic zeal and charity. Marvellous 
indeed are the depth and fervency of St. Paul's 
words, and singularly touching is the spectacle 
exhibited in his case, when, unable to visit the 
Ephesians and speak to them in person, he puts 
on record his testimony concerning the love of 
God in Christ, and conveys to them exhortations 
of such cogency and meetness, that they were 
not only applicable to those to whom they were 



238 THE TRUTH IN LOVE. 

directly addressed, but have been counted by 
Christ's disciples in all ages as among the pre- 
cious gifts and comforts of the Word of God. 

It would be impossible for me, in a single dis- 
course, to take note of the many and forcible ex- 
hortations of St. Paul in this Epistle. I shall not 
attempt it. I shall rather ask you to give your 
attention to the words which I have quoted as my 
text. They occur, you remember, in the midst 
of other glowing words. They form a part of 
the Apostle's urgent appeal to maintain the 
Christian character, based upon the idea of the 
necessary unity which prevails among all Christ's 
faithful disciples. The Church of Christ is one 
Church ; one compact body. One Spirit pervades 
it ; one hope animates it. It has the one Head, 
the one faith, the one baptism, the one Loving Fa- 
ther, whose grace and power penetrate through 
all the Church, from the least unto the greatest. 
The Lord and Master has given gifts to His 
Church, in sending His ministering servants to 
labor in building up the body into Christ, that 
we may not be like children, easily enticed and 
led astray ; but wholly alive to the truth, de- 
voted to the truth in love, may grow more and 



THE TRUTH IN LOVE. 239 

more like unto our Master in all things, till we 
reach our home with Him in heaven. 

The expression, " speaking the truth in love," 
hardly gives us the full meaning of the Apostle 
in English. As it reads in our version, it seems 
to refer to speaking the truth, as its special point, 
whereas, in fact, while it includes that, of course, 
it means a great deal more. Had St. Paul been 
writing in English instead of Greek, his words 
of exhortation would probably have been some- 
thing in this wise : — " being true men," holding, 
keeping, walking in the truth ; being men who 
speak, and act, and live, and think, and wish, and 
strive for truth in all things ; seek, brethren, to 
grow up into Christ the Head. So that were 
the great preacher addressing us now, w r e may 
be sure that he would urge us by words of 
depth and power to be all that the language of 
the text implies, to be lights amid the surround- 
ing moral darkness, and to be the salt of the earth 
to preserve the world from moral and spiritual 
putrefaction. 

Let us see what it is that St. Paul is urging 
upon Christians. Truth was what he held up 
to them, truth in its fulness and completeness, 



240 THE 7 RUTH EV LOVE. 

truth in its power and purity. The Ephesians 
needed the exhortation, no doubt; but not more, 
I fear, than modern Christians. The disciples of 
Christ, who resided in the midst of a rich and 
luxurious population, needed to be reminded of 
the truth as it is in Jesus, and what the truth 
demanded then and there. Ephesus was a large 
and splendid city, and licentiousness and lying 
and vanity abounded there ; but we can hardly 
dare affirm that similar evidences cf corruption 
and falsehood do not appear in cities and com- 
munities of this day, though they are nominally 
Christian cities and communities. Truth is not 
any more popular, or any more desired by men 
in the world now than it ever was. Truth, in its 
higher and nobler aspects, has always met with 
a cool reception from the mass of mankind ; and 
there are not very many, compared with the mul- 
titude, who welcome the presence and love to fol- 
low the guidance of truth. 

Of course, I mean here the truth of God, in its 
relation to man's soul, not any of the speculations 
or discoveries of philosophers, however true, or 
the systems of physical or other science, how- 
ever valuable, worked out by man's unaided ef- 



THE TR UTH IN L V£. 24 1 

forts. I mean that truth which our Lord and 
Saviour, who is Himself "the Truth," has 'be- 
stowed upon us, and which is contained in His 
Gospel. This is what we are to seek for and 
make our own. This is what is to be the ruling 
principle of all our thoughts, words and actions. 
And the question comes up immediately, do we 
thus live and act? Are we the "true men" of 
the Gospel ? Are we the men and women who 
hold fast to the truth, who never swerve from 
the truth, and who count it our highest privilege 
to obey the truth in ail things ? 

Apply it, brethren, to yourselves. You are, of 
necessity, in various conditions and positions in 
life. You are subjected to the various trials and 
temptations of life. You are called upon to test 
the principles on which vou live, and which you 
hope and expect will sustain you when vou die. 
Examine your principles, carefully and honestly. 
Ask yourselves whether you are what St. Paul 
urges and pleads with you to be. You may be 
true men in some, even very many particulars ; 
but are vou so in all? You may, for instance, 
hold right opinions on the general subject of 
Christianity, and its articles of faith ; but, at the 
1 1 



042 THE TRUTH IX LOVE. 

same time, you may come far short of obedience 
to its every-day teachings and duties. You may 
be true, quite true as regards your words and 
speeches ; but 3-011 may, when occasion offers, 
and common custom sanctions, be wanting in 
entire truthfulness in action and conduct. You 
may keep silence when 3-ou ought to speak. You 
may- allow the Saviour to be wounded in the 
house of his friends ; and when truth demands 
of 3-0U to be upheld, when if 3-011 do not speak 
and act truth will suffer through your neglect, 
you may, by closing your lips, prove recreant to 
Christ's truth in the world ; — and one might well 
ask, what kind of friendship that is which can 
allow a man to stand by and hear a loved one 
slandered or misrepresented, while he utters not 
a word ! You may think, perhaps, because 3-ou 
are in the world, and obliged to take part in its 
concerns, that, now and then at least, you may 
be of the world and do as the world does. You 
may suppose that, in a public position, 3 t ou are 
not always obliged to let men see and know that 
3'ou are a Christian, and a Christian who believes 
the truth of the Gospel to be worth, not some- 
96 Zechariah xiii. 6. 



THE TRUTH IN LOVE. 243 

thing, but every thing to him. As public affairs 
are not always regulated and controlled by Chris- 
tian principles, you may, possibly, persuade your- 
self that, while taking your part in them, you are 
not bound to act out in full these principles. 
You may imagine that you are not called upon 
to say, and demonstrate by your conduct, that 
you will have nothing to do with whatever is 
opposed to the truth and purity of the Gospel, 
and that you will rebuke vice and have no fel- 
lowship with wickedness or wicked men. You 
may think the same thing, in substance, if you 
are in business ; if you have others under your 
control ; if you have families and dependents ; if 
you mingle much in society ; and, consequently, 
you may fail, more or less frequently, of showing 
yourselves to be the " true men," of whom St. 
Paul speaks. 

Let me not be misunderstood, brethren. I am 
not charging yoa w T ith especial deficiency, as if 
you needed to be singled out above all others for 
censure on the subject of God's truth ; not at all. 
What I have said applies to .Christian churches 
and communities, every where, so far as I know ; 
and I am confident that the Apostle's exhortation 



244 TIIE TRUTH IX LOVE. 

is needed as much now as it was when he first 
wrote the words of my text. Be ye sure of this. 
The external face of things has marvellously 
changed since St. Paul's days ; but underneath 
there has been very little change in the right di- 
rection. Human nature is still substantially the 
same. It is a sinful nature ; it inclines men to do 
wrong ; and even they who have been regener- 
ated by water and the Holy Ghost find that they 
are not freed from the evil tendency of their na- 
ture. We, brethren, may be disposed to join in 
the popular view of the progress of the human 
family, of the increase in learning and goodness, 
of the blessings of civilization and culture, of the 
diffusion of intelligence among the great masses 
of men ; — and for one, I should be the last to un- 
dervalue what has been done, however little it is 
compared with what ought to have been done : — 
but we must not deceive ourselves on that ac- 
count. We are all of us, in this nineteenth cen- 
tury of progress and pride, still the children of 
Adam and Eve. We all have our share in that 
inheritance of a corrupt nature w r hich they have 
handed down to us ; and so, the teachings of 
truth, as regards man's spiritual life, are just as 



THE TR U 77/ IN L VE. 24 5 

important, just as much called for now, as they 
ever were, or ever can be. 

I had purposed to say something respecting 
the last two words of the text ; " speaking the 
truth in love ; but time will not allow me, this 
morning, to do more than call your attention to 
the words, and to beg you to meditate upon them 
w r ith devout reverence. The expression, " in 
love," is very significant, very valuable in its 
leading us to see why, most probably, many good 
Christian people among us fail of accomplishing 
what they sincerely desire to do in the' Master's 
behalf, by forgetting that we are not only to be 
true, hold the truth, speak the truth, act out the 
truth, but that we are to do it " in love." A lov- 
ing spirit, a heart full of the charity of the Gos- 
pel, a life which shows a nearer and nearer ap- 
proach to the perfect love our Lord exhibited, 
this it is, as you know, which commends the 
truth, and makes the truth effective with those 
around us; and this it is which we need, and 
must ever strive after and pray for. 

Let us be bold, courageous, full of zeal for the 
truth's sake : let us contend manfully for the 
truth ; but, brethren, let us ever try to do it in the 



246 THE TR UTH IN LO VE. 

right and true spirit of the Gospel, which is the 
spirit of heavenly charity. While we purify our 
souls in obeying the truth, as St. Peter directs,* 
let us do it in unfeigned love for our fellow crea- 
tures. " My little children," says St. John, " let 
us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in 
deed and in truth. And hereby we know that 
we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts 
before Him." 

* 1 St. Peter i. 22. f 1 St. John iii. 18, 19. 



